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Letter: All will be welcomed
I’D LIKE to thank Mary McCallen (letters, January 19) for providing us with the opportunity to assure parents and families who might be interested in sending their children to a school in Southwater, that both Horsham Churches Together and Oasis are passionate about ensuring that all children are included.
The Oasis Southwater Community School will be a local school for local children and will be open to children from all religions as well as those with none. We will not discriminate on any grounds including ability – any child who wants to attend will be welcome and will be actively included. The Oasis ethos makes this absolutely clear:
A passion to INCLUDE everyone.
A desire to treat everyone EQUALLY respecting differences.
A commitment to healthy open RELATIONSHIPS.
Horsham Churches Together fully supports this ethos and will work with Oasis to ensure this is at the centre of how the new school operates.
We know that parents in Southwater are already used to schools that provide high quality education and will not tolerate anything less. Oasis’ track record of delivering high quality education in academies across the country gives us confidence that they are very capable of delivering a school with high educational standards.
Our aim is to provide another school delivering education of as a high a standard as the other secondary schools in the area, giving parents in Southwater the choice of sending their children to a school in village or to schools in Horsham depending on their preference.
DAVID SHELDON
Chief executive, Horsham Matters, on behalf of Horsham Churches Together
Blatchford Road, Horsham
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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Comments
There are 3 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
RH12David
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 06:01 PMYellowgopher, of course you're absolutely right that the term parental choice is often used when, in fact, parents may only state a preference. But I don't think that I have suggested otherwise, so I'm not sure why you make this point here. This week's County Times indicates that the statistical evidence of 'need' for a Southwater secondary school, as presented in 'consultation' meetings, now carries a major health warning (page 5). It's all the fault of WSCC, naturally, and nothing to do with HCT being out of their depth and being accountable to noone but themselves. I disagree with you - I don't think that HCT have encouraged debate about this matter. I have not heard, or heard about, any meetings or sermons at the HCT member churches which, I assume, have indirectly met the expenses incurred for this project so far. What HCT have done is to ask leading questions of those Southwater residents most likely to support the plan. They have operated at breakneck speed, farcically asking parents to show their support for a school with no site, no head teacher, no defined age range. And now, it seems, the numerical basis for promoting such a school may be flawed. With seven local head teachers querying the HCT strategy, it's time to sit up and listen, I suggest. The two heads of the church schools in Crawley are also favouring a 'pause'. Let us hope that we shall have a proper evidence-based discussion of the case for a Southwater secondary school, with all options on the table, and with the head teachers at the heart of these discussions, so that any new school will not adversely our existing fine schools.
yellowgopher
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 04:38 PMDavid should be careful here - there is no such thing as choice when it comes to choosing a school. You can specify a preference but it is only that - you'd prefer to send your child to a particular school. Choice is banded around too often and causes confusion - criteria such as siblings already attending, educational need, catchment area and distance from a school are taken into account before any stated preference. One of the many reasons for having a secondary school in Southwater is that, as housing development eats up spaces at schools in Horsham, Southwater children could end up having a reduced chance of getting into Horsham schools and could end up travelling further and further. Regardless of the rights and wrongs of HCT being involved, they are just one interested party. Oasis would take on most of the work planning, implementing and finally managing the school with input from HCT, parents and other stakeholders, Personally I thank HCT for speaking out and trying to get a proper debate going on what we need for secondary provision for Southwater children.
RH12David
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 10:42 AMHCT should not be involved in this and holds no mandate from Horsham Christians, including me, to be fronting this. Running a charity shop, a pregnancy service, youth advocacy, bookshop and cafe is proper work for such an organisation and well done and thank you to all who conduct that valuable work. But HCT is not equipped, competent or mandated to lead on a bid for a new school which will disturb the equilibrium of all the others in the district (including Crawley's church schools). Free schools are an overtly political measure, unjustly funded out of cancelling hundreds of existing schools' Building Schools for the Future plans. That ought to be troubling our Christian consciences. Who funds HCT? Are my stewardship offerings subsidising this project?
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