As a parent who has just been through the secondary transfer process, I have become very aware of the anomaly that, although we have a wide range of nurseries and three infant or junior schools, there is no local state secondary school in the Parish of Aldenham. Over and over again I have heard other parents asking the same question – why don't we have a local secondary school?
Children attending nurseries, then infants and junior schools in Radlett often spend the years from age four to ten together making many friends locally. Then, when they have to move up to secondary schools, they find that they are split from these friends because they are forced to travel to secondary schools in Bushey, Watford, St Albans, Potters Bar and even further afield. For example, the 30 children who left Year 6 at Newberries School this July are now going to no less than 16 different secondary schools!
Hertfordshire County Council, which is responsible for our schools, has a rule of thumb that there should be 1,000 children in a locality before they could consider building a new school. At present there are around 400 pupils in the Parish attending state secondary schools so this is not enough. But there are also around 300 pupils from the Parish of Shenley attending state secondary schools and an unknown number (to me) from the two parishes attending local private secondary schools. At the current rate of growth of population in this area it is clear that the magic 1,000 number could be reached within the next few years.
There are two other major issues. Firstly, the increasing difficulties for Radlett & Shenley children to get places at secondary schools in surrounding areas. Until the early 1980s the majority of Radlett children transferred to one of the two nearest schools, Queens or Bushey Meads. However, entry to these schools (and the others in Garston and Watford) is now decided on the results of an entrance exam rather than on proximity to the schools, so local children must compete against others from a wide area of Hertfordshire and North London. This means it is increasingly difficult to get a place at the more popular schools; for example, in 2007, Parmiters School in Garston received 1,318 applications for its 185 places.
Over the past 25 years increasing numbers of children from Radlett & Shenley have been able to get places in schools in St Albans, where there is no entrance exam and the main rule is proximity to the school. But this year has seen no Radlett children get places at Marlborough School (the nearest school to Radlett) except from Fairfield School which has had a special arrangement providing up to 15 places for Radlett children. This arrangement has now been cancelled as the school can now easily fill its places from the increasing numbers of children moving into the new houses being built in and around St Albans who are therefore nearer to the school than anyone in Radlett or Shenley.
The second major issue is transport. Until a few years ago, secondary school pupils received free transport to school if their school was more than three miles away. All secondary schools are more than three miles away from Radlett but school buses are no longer free. The majority of children attending these secondary schools travel by more than 20 special school buses which stop in Radlett and Shenley. Some others travel by train (e.g. to Verulam in St Albans) and many others by car (e.g. to Dame Alice Owen in Potters Bar, for which there is no school bus). There is a significant cost to families for school buses or other forms of transport as well as an overall cost to the environment in terms of pollution and traffic congestion.
It's time for a vision:
Why can't we have a new secondary school located in Radlett or Shenley, primarily for the benefit of children living in the Parishes of Aldenham and Shenley? The main feeder schools would be Fairfield and Newberries in Radlett and Shenley School who have 150 Year 6 leavers between them each year, plus some from Clore Shalom and the Hertsmere Jewish School (although many of these will go on to Yavneh College in Borehamwood). The total number of pupils through to the 6th Form would therefore eventually be between 800 and 1,000. There would be no compulsion as some parents will still want their children to try to get places elsewhere, but I am sure that the majority would be happy with a local school.
Depending upon the exact location, it could be expected that a significant proportion (25-30%?) of the children would be able to walk or cycle to and from the school, thus greatly reducing the environmental effects from school buses and cars. Possible locations include the site earmarked for a secondary school in the 1970s (Watford Road, opposite Fairfield School), the field next to Newberries School (which is halfway between Shenley and Radlett) or, possibly, the site in Porters Park, Shenley which was also allocated to a new school when the estate was built. Although some of these sites are within the Green Belt, it is accepted policy that this is a suitable use of Green Belt land and many of the secondary schools in Hertfordshire have been built on Green Belt in the past.
The final question is how much will this cost and who will pay for it? The Government programme “Building Schools for the Future” is enabling the re-building and re-furbishment of all secondary schools in Hertfordshire over a fifteen year period, starting in this area in 2015. There is already a precedent set for building a new school (rather than just refurbishing existing ones) under this programme in Stevenage so, if we can make a strong enough case, the new Radlett & Shenley Secondary School could become a reality within the next 7 to 8 years.
If you share this vision and would like to help make it happen, please contact me and let's see what we can do!
Children attending nurseries, then infants and junior schools in Radlett often spend the years from age four to ten together making many friends locally. Then, when they have to move up to secondary schools, they find that they are split from these friends because they are forced to travel to secondary schools in Bushey, Watford, St Albans, Potters Bar and even further afield. For example, the 30 children who left Year 6 at Newberries School this July are now going to no less than 16 different secondary schools!
Hertfordshire County Council, which is responsible for our schools, has a rule of thumb that there should be 1,000 children in a locality before they could consider building a new school. At present there are around 400 pupils in the Parish attending state secondary schools so this is not enough. But there are also around 300 pupils from the Parish of Shenley attending state secondary schools and an unknown number (to me) from the two parishes attending local private secondary schools. At the current rate of growth of population in this area it is clear that the magic 1,000 number could be reached within the next few years.
There are two other major issues. Firstly, the increasing difficulties for Radlett & Shenley children to get places at secondary schools in surrounding areas. Until the early 1980s the majority of Radlett children transferred to one of the two nearest schools, Queens or Bushey Meads. However, entry to these schools (and the others in Garston and Watford) is now decided on the results of an entrance exam rather than on proximity to the schools, so local children must compete against others from a wide area of Hertfordshire and North London. This means it is increasingly difficult to get a place at the more popular schools; for example, in 2007, Parmiters School in Garston received 1,318 applications for its 185 places.
Over the past 25 years increasing numbers of children from Radlett & Shenley have been able to get places in schools in St Albans, where there is no entrance exam and the main rule is proximity to the school. But this year has seen no Radlett children get places at Marlborough School (the nearest school to Radlett) except from Fairfield School which has had a special arrangement providing up to 15 places for Radlett children. This arrangement has now been cancelled as the school can now easily fill its places from the increasing numbers of children moving into the new houses being built in and around St Albans who are therefore nearer to the school than anyone in Radlett or Shenley.
The second major issue is transport. Until a few years ago, secondary school pupils received free transport to school if their school was more than three miles away. All secondary schools are more than three miles away from Radlett but school buses are no longer free. The majority of children attending these secondary schools travel by more than 20 special school buses which stop in Radlett and Shenley. Some others travel by train (e.g. to Verulam in St Albans) and many others by car (e.g. to Dame Alice Owen in Potters Bar, for which there is no school bus). There is a significant cost to families for school buses or other forms of transport as well as an overall cost to the environment in terms of pollution and traffic congestion.
It's time for a vision:
Why can't we have a new secondary school located in Radlett or Shenley, primarily for the benefit of children living in the Parishes of Aldenham and Shenley? The main feeder schools would be Fairfield and Newberries in Radlett and Shenley School who have 150 Year 6 leavers between them each year, plus some from Clore Shalom and the Hertsmere Jewish School (although many of these will go on to Yavneh College in Borehamwood). The total number of pupils through to the 6th Form would therefore eventually be between 800 and 1,000. There would be no compulsion as some parents will still want their children to try to get places elsewhere, but I am sure that the majority would be happy with a local school.
Depending upon the exact location, it could be expected that a significant proportion (25-30%?) of the children would be able to walk or cycle to and from the school, thus greatly reducing the environmental effects from school buses and cars. Possible locations include the site earmarked for a secondary school in the 1970s (Watford Road, opposite Fairfield School), the field next to Newberries School (which is halfway between Shenley and Radlett) or, possibly, the site in Porters Park, Shenley which was also allocated to a new school when the estate was built. Although some of these sites are within the Green Belt, it is accepted policy that this is a suitable use of Green Belt land and many of the secondary schools in Hertfordshire have been built on Green Belt in the past.
The final question is how much will this cost and who will pay for it? The Government programme “Building Schools for the Future” is enabling the re-building and re-furbishment of all secondary schools in Hertfordshire over a fifteen year period, starting in this area in 2015. There is already a precedent set for building a new school (rather than just refurbishing existing ones) under this programme in Stevenage so, if we can make a strong enough case, the new Radlett & Shenley Secondary School could become a reality within the next 7 to 8 years.
If you share this vision and would like to help make it happen, please contact me and let's see what we can do!
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