ST JOHN's Church of England primary school, in the Clifton area
of Bristol, has taken over a disused police station to provide more
classrooms. Because of the demand for places, the voluntary
controlled school, founded in 1885, is more than doubling the
number of pupils it can take, from 210 to 525. Bristol Council,
which converted the police premises, estimates that the city will
need 3500 new primary places over the next five years.
The Church's chief education officer, the Revd Jan Ainsworth,
says that church primary schools in many dioceses are expanding to
meet the demand caused by an unforeseen surge in the birth rate
during the past decade.
Although the increasing demand is widespread, it is at its most
acute in Greater London. The schools director for London diocese,
Liz Wolverson, says that dozens of C of E schools have responded to
local council pleas for help by creating "bulge" classes: some
doubling in size or opening satellite schools in converted
premises. The biggest demand was in poorer London boroughs, where
rents are lower; many recently arrived parents with primary-aged
children were shocked by the difficulty of finding school places,
she said.
Two C of E free schools, St Mary's Primary, Hampton, and William
Perkins Secondary, Greenford, opened this month. "The day after
they opened their doors, it was clear that others were needed," Mrs
Wolverson said. "By 2017, the pres- sure will be on secondary
schools. Local authorities are trying to plan ahead while
attempting to provide more primary places." Allocated government
funds did not begin to touch the problem, she said.
The situation would be discussed this week at the annual
conference, in York, of the Association of Anglican Secondary
School Heads, the chairman of the organisation, Andrew Wilcox,
said. Mr Wilcox, who is head of Bishop Ramsey comprehensive school
in north-west London, said that governors were discussing the
possibility of opening a satellite school of a similar size by
2017.