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Turing House School deferred until 2015

NewsLord Nash, the Minister for Schools, has taken the decision to defer the opening of Turing House School until September 2015 – this is due to the permanent site for the school not yet being agreed.

The news will come as a shock for parents of children who were expecting to attend Turing House this September using temporary classrooms and buildings, as the process has happened with other schools before permanent structures are built. Parents of 150 children now have just days to find a place at another secondary school, only 9 days after being offered a place at Turing House.

[Important update from Head of Admissions for LBRUT] The Turing House option was a bonus option so effectively parents would have been offered a secondary school place in addition to their Turing House offer. If parents accepted the Turing place and rejected their other offer they should contact the council immediately and they will have that other offer reinstated – but they must do it very quickly as the council can’t hold the door open indefinitely.

A parents meeting on the 25th of March 2014 at Clarendon Hall, York House has been arranged by the school’s organisers so that any questions can be answered and the DfE will continue to pursue existing options and agree a site so that the school can open in September 2015.

There is exceptionally high demand for secondary school places and the building of new schools has become a hot topic, especially considering recently built and planned housing developments in Teddington and elsewhere in the borough.

[Update 18/03/2014] A petition has been created to attempt to get the deferment decision overturned – if enough signatures are received there may be a chance this could happen – if you agree, you can sign the online petition here.

Comments

0 thoughts on “Turing House School deferred until 2015

  • Why doesn’t someone apply some common sense to the absence of a decent High School in Hampton. Hampton Acadamy is not thriving nor a desirable option. Shut it down and open up Turin on that site. Any one share my thoughts?

    Reply
    • Common sense??!!
      As a resident of Hampton with a child
      at HA and another due to start in September I can tell you this school is improving and is well thought of by attending students and parents alike.
      “Not in a desirable location” ?? For who? Let’s shut down a school which is striving to improve and lose its ‘reputation’ with sponsorship from Kunskapsskolan and let Turing house take over who offered places to hundreds without even having premises to open !!!!
      I think not.

      Reply
  • Daisy, it really isn’t a simple process to just ‘close a school down’. But even if that was an option, what would happen to the teaching staff and existing pupils at Hampton Academy? Those students would still need a place to go, so effectively all that would be achieved is a re-branding of the existing school and still no extra secondary school places, which is the real issue at hand. Having said that, I do know that Hampton Academy takes a high percentage of their students from the neighbouring borough of Hounslow (particularly Hanworth and Feltham) so surely if there is a shortage of spaces in Richmond, priority should be given to children who are resident within the borough.
    Unfortunately, with the exception of Orleans and Teddington, I have noticed that many parents do not deem any of the boroughs secondary schools as a desirable option for their children. I wonder why this is when the primary education here is so well regarded.

    Reply

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