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BSF Consultation

Building Schools for the Future (BSF) is the Government's capital investment programme to rebuild and renew virtually all of England's 3500 secondary schools. Connaught School for Girls is in Wave 5 (out of 15 waves) of this programme providing up to £100m of investment. This is a 'one in a lifetime' opportunity to provide the best education for children in our community for generations to come.

All the staff and governors at Connaught School for Girls are concerned about the proposals from the London Borough of Waltham Forest in their consultation document, summarised by "Schools and college could work together (in a ‘Networked Learning Community’) so that our young people can attend the school of their choice but have the opportunity to followsome of their courses, those not available in their own school, at another school or local college. Each school could have different specialist facilities according to its best subjects". The consultation document can be downloaded in short or longer versions by clicking the links below:

The consultation period ended on Friday 14th September. We will publish the Council's review of the consultation when it becomes available. The views of the school, local authority, questions from parents, governors, teachers and pupils with the responses from the local authority from the Public Meeting held at Connaught on 10th September 2007 can be downloaded by clicking on the link below:

Stop Press - Councillor Robbins Speaks Out Against Connaught

Below is a press statement from our Headteacher responding to Councillor Chris Robbins' remarks that critisised Connaught's approach to the BSF consultation process in an interview with a Waltham Forest Guardian reporter, printed on 18th October 2007:

Connaught School for Girls has been engaged in the Building Schools for the Future consultation process since December 2006. We have encouraged all of our staff, parents and community partners to respond to the recent consultation document and held a Public Meeting attended by over two hundred staff and parents at our school on 10th September 2007 where officers of the Council were able to give more details and answer questions about its proposals.

We have had many discussions with the Council Officers at conferences, Connaught Governors’ Meetings and directly, expressing our concerns over their proposals.Staff, Governors, parents and pupils at Connaught disagree with the proposals to spend over £100 million on creating a ‘networked learning community’ of six schools in Leyton/Leytonstone with a common timetable that will lead to undesirable movement of children aged 14 – 16 between schools during each school week.

Connaught School for Girls is a successful school, recognised by the DCSF as a High Performing Specialist School in Languages and Science – the only school in Waltham Forest to have achieved this.

We are now awaiting the results of the consultation process that ended on 14th September 2007 and are looking forward to engaging in continued discussions with the Council.

Ann Betts

Headteacher

October 2007

On 25th October 2007 the Waltham Forest Guardian printed a letter written by a parent of a student at Connaught. Click the link below to read the letter:

 
 
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