London council accused of snubbing parents

BY ROBERT VAN EGGHEN
A LONDON council has been accused of ignoring parents' wishes • for a Catholic secondary school. The Liberal Democrat-run Richmond upon Thames Council is guilty of a "flagrant denial" of its duties, according to Councillor Geoffrey Samuel, Deputy Leader of Richmond Conservatives.
The large London borough has six high-performing Catholic primary schools. Yet it remains the only borough in the whole of London without a Catholic secondary school. The borough was named the highest performing education authority in the country for Key Stage 2. Nonetheless, it sees almost 250 children leave Richmond upon Thames each year for a'Catholic secondary school. The council had submitted a proposal for a Catholic secondary school to Westminster diocese in 2005. However, following a Government decision to bring forward the cut-off date for bid submission, the council was left hamstrung. The lack of up-front money from the council and the inability of both Westminster diocese and the council to find a suitable site meant that the bid was doomed to failure.
Since then, disagreements have emerged between local councillors as to what should be done next. In spite of Councillor Malcolm Eady's insistence that the council would "fully support the principle" of a Catholic secondary school in the borough, Councillor Samuel said he suspected nothing had been done.
A written question to the Council was tabled on matter, last week. "We very much want continuity for all the children in our six Catholic primary schools and we feel there is a shortage in provision across this part of London," said Councillor Eady. He also sought to assuage the doubts of Catholic parents left stranded by the political disagreements and subsequent lack of progress by saying "we would seize any opportunity to submit a second bid".
"If we had a suitable site available, we would go on with it," said Councillor Bob King, a governor at St Edmunds Catholic Prirnary School in Twickenham.
Councillor Samuel asked whether the council had "given in to liberal opponents of church education and abandoned the whole concept". Catholic parents must continue to either choose a non-Catholic school within the borough or send their child on a "trek", as one parent called it, in search of the sort of education that they would prefer. It is a choice that many of them would rather not have to make but "they have to because they want to", said Carmel Moreland, headteacher at St Edmunds. "I think if we had a Catholic school, I would send my children," she said. "Parents would be delighted if we had one."
This year, she added, some families chose to stay in the borough because of geographical reasons, but the vast majority opt for a long journey out of it. In such an environmentally conscious borough as Richmond upon Thames, she noted, "it's not an eco-friendly option and shouldn't carry on". A Catholic secondary school would not just benefit the environment, however. It would also be beneficial to centres of higher education. The initial bid in 2005 was put forward in conjunction with St Mary's University in Twickenham.
The principal at St Mary's, Dr Arthur Naylor, was keen to see his university involved in the creation of a centre for the continuance of Catholic education in the local area and aims to be "actively involved in any forthcoming plans". He said: "A third of bur business comes from teacher training and so we would like to develop this further."