| Petition Overview: |
We petition Hertfordshire County Council to address the inadequate provision of primary school places in the central area of St Albans (St Peter’s Ward and the station area) by expanding a local existing school and/or building a new school. In the interim, to provide immediate relief by providing a bulge class to a city centre school. School allocation data for September 2017 showed that 70 children in Central St Albans did not get one of their four ranked choices and have instead been offered a school that is miles from their home.In addition, some parents felt the need to include a school far from their home in their choices in order to safeguard ‘choosing’ good schools. This has skewed the Council’s data, as it implies that parents have been given one of their preferred schools. The reality is that these parents would have preferred a local school and felt forced to choose larger schools a distance away to safeguard the quality of the schools that they chose. Particularly, there is a ‘black hole’ around the station where children had no hope of getting into their nearest school, St Peter’s. Under-provision in the central area is currently:· Pulling communities apart by sending a large number of children outside their local area for schooling · Making St Albans a less attractive location for families to raise children· Adding to the already congested rush hour traffic with associated environmental effects· Making living in prime commuter territory untenable for those with young families· Limiting the career and work options for parents forced into travelling greater distances at the start and end of the day This inadequate provision is exacerbated by the continuing building development in the area. For example, 80 dwellings on London Road (Gabriel Square) are being marketed to those with families. However, there is already insufficient provision for local primary schooling and without doubt these families will be in the same position in 2018/19 In the short term, we propose an additional bulge class in central St Albans for September 2017 to fulfil the specific demand for schools in this area. We understand that schools close to the City centre have this capacity. In the long term our proposals are: 1. Permanent expansion of an existing local school to accommodate the children (both now and in the future) who are currently not served by any school. 2. Building a new school to support the growing local community. We urge the council to re-evaluate the allocation of extra places for the long-term benefit of all central and all St Albans residents. |