Consultation Press Release
PRESS INFORMATION
INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE, CONTACT ADRIENNE COHEN 07799 888316 / adrienne@hothousecomms.com or contact via Twitter @WD3SAG
WD3 children could have the chance to apply for 4 secondary school places
Local campaigning group urges parents to respond to consultation
Rickmansworth, 9 January 2012: Many parents in the Rickmansworth area are aware of the rapidly increasing shortage of school places facing their children as they move onto secondary school. The answer to accessing school places does not lie solely in the creation of new schools but also in fair access to local school places and parents have the power in their hands to help achieve this by responding to a current consultation from Hertfordshire County Council which would see a move from 3 application places to 4.
Mark Sutton, Chair of the WD3 School Action Group, a community group that has been campaigning for the creation of 2 new schools in Rickmansworth as well as urging the local education authority, Hertfordshire County Council (HCC), to allow local residents to be able to apply for places at more than 3 schools, explained: “allowing our children to apply to 4 schools is a move in the right direction to ensure children living in Rickmansworth are in the running for a place at a local secondary school of their choice. Alone this change will not solve the horrific lack of access to local, high quality and non-selective education facing our community; we absolutely need more schools too. However, we are pleased to see HCC attempting to give our children a more equal playing field with children from out of county who can apply to our schools.”
Mr Sutton made it clear that this opportunity offered by HCC would come into force if local residents voice their acceptance to the proposal and respond to the current consultation exercise and complete the consultation document. “To help people understand the importance of this move and what it will mean for our community, the WD3 SAG is holding a public meeting on 18 January 2012. We’ll be there to share with our community what needs to be done now to ensure we obtain this vital extra application place and to update people on how the fight for new schools is progressing.”
The public meeting will also provide an opportunity for residents to also learn about the sites that have been shortlisted as the proposed locations for new schools by HCC and Three Rivers District Council. Carolyn Venn, Deputy Chair of the WD3 SAG said: “We have to keep up the noise level and continue to fight for new schools for our children in Rickmansworth. HCCs revised forecasts show that the current reception year are going to be at least 320 places short of access to a local secondary school place. That’s the equivalent of 11 classes of children who will not be able to go to a school of their choice near their home in just a few years’ time, and a huge percentage of these children will live in Rickmansworth.”
Mr Sutton added: “It’s imperative that we come together as a community and continue to make sure our children’s right to access high quality, local and non-selective secondary education stay on top of the HCC’s education provision agenda and Three Rivers’ planning priorities. If we do so, we’ll be able to secure more application places as well as retain the hope of new local schools being built in the not too distant future.”
The meeting will be held at St Peter’s School, Church Lane, WD3 8HD on 18 January 2012 at 8pm. Representatives from WD3 SAG, HCC and Three Rivers District Council will be there to answer questions on the night.
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Notes
- The meeting will be held at 8.00pm St Peter’s School Hall, Church Lane, Mill End, Rickmansworth, WD3 8HD.
- Further information about the WD3 Parents Action Group http://wd3school.wordpress.com
- Further detail on the current consultation being held by HCC can be found at www.hertsdirect.org/admissions2013
