Federation is what you need
by Hammersmith and Fulham Press Office
16/09/2008
Parents are to have their say on exciting plans to bring together Henry Compton School with its close neighbour Fulham Cross Girls’ School.
A consultation on the proposed federation of the two schools starts in the near future and all parents are urged to tell the schools what they think about this groundbreaking proposal.
The new school, Fulham College (the current working title), would be controlled by a single joint governing body and one headteacher. It would provide ten classes per academic year. This would enable it to admit 300 pupils at the age of 11, giving a total of 1,500 places for 11 to 16 year-olds.
This proposal forms part of the council’s plans to redevelop, every secondary school in the borough over the coming years. It follows a major consultation into the future of state education in Hammersmith & Fulham, held earlier this year. Parents told the council that they wanted more chance to get their children into their top-choice schools and they want sixth forms in all borough schools.
Funding for the redevelopment of secondary schools in Hammersmith & Fulham will come from the Government’s Building Schools for the Future initiative.
Cllr Antony Lillis, cabinet member for community and children’s services, said: “Although both schools are performing well and recently achieved excellent GCSE results, the council believes that changes are needed to ensure that children are given the best chance in life. In order to secure funding through Building Schools for the Future – which is a one-in-a-lifetime chance for schools in H&F – we are required to be bold and ambitious.
“These plans are just that. The new college will provide facilities fit for 21st century teaching and will mean that more local parents will be able to send their children to secondary schools within the borough. This federation would raise standards, promote inclusion, and establish innovative approaches to teaching and learning. I urge parents to make their feelings known at this forthcoming consultation.”
In a bid to strengthen their development, both Henry Compton and Fulham Cross have made a commitment to achieve Trust status, potentially in partnership with Roehampton University. The aim of a Trust is to bring together a range of expertise and experience and make them available to the school.
Fulham College would see the existing schools rebuilt or re-modelled with state-of-the-art facilities tailored to the needs of its pupils.
As part of the multi-million pound redevelopment, a brand new state-of-the-art Modern Foreign Languages centre is proposed on the Fulham Cross site. Fulham Cross is already a specialist language college and the new centre will enable it to build on its expertise and provide some of the best language facilities in the capital. The building is due to begin in Spring 2009.
The new centre, which will accommodate both school and community groups, will have five main teaching rooms on the first floor, one of which will double as a computer room, and another one equipped with cameras to record "model" lessons and train new teachers. There will also be ICT facilities and a flexible space for extra curricular activities.
Isabelle Matrat, Fulham Cross Language College Director, said: “It is an extremely exciting time for the school and our students but also for our local community who will be able to benefit from our state of the art facilities.”
At Henry Compton School plans are well advanced for a state-of-the-art performing arts building. This new facility will enable the school to offer a wide range of expressive arts related courses, not only for performers but also covering topics such as stage lighting and sound engineering.
The 550m2 building will consist of a large performance hall with capacity to seat an audience of approximately 150. There will also be two spacious classrooms, dressing rooms and a green room. The performance hall will benefit from professional quality stage lighting and sound systems whilst the teaching spaces will be fully equipped to enable costume and set design/construction.
Headteacher, Dinesh Ramjee, said: “The new performing arts block will provide a wonderful facility for the school to build on its current expressive arts curriculum. It will also provide opportunities for the community to engage more directly with the school.”
Work is expected to commence early in 2009 with a projected completion date early in the academic year 2009/10.
