Is there are a shortage of School places in South Bucks?

One of the issues mentioned regarding the placing of Khalsa Secondary Academy is that there is no demand for a new secondary school within the South Bucks area. One of the reasons quoted is that  school places within South Bucks area are under capacity. School places are only one of the considerations in determining whether new schools should be funded.

Parental choice is one of the primary tenets that successive Governments have supported and this is particularly true when one considers the availability of choice for minorities. In fact a letter from Sue Imbriano, the Director for Children and Families in Bucks County Council states that “they would support our proposal for a Sikh faith school in South Bucks on the basis of parental choice and diversity”.

Over 250 Sikh and non-Sikh families in South Bucks, have stated that they support the idea of Khalsa school being located in Stoke Poges and it is reasonable to conclude that they are likely to be sending their children or grandchildren to this school in the near future.

Turning to the issue of school places - the UK population has grown considerably in the last few years and this has caused a shortage of school places up and down the country. According to the BBC a quarter of a million school places are needed in England by autumn 2014. The reason for this demand is because the birth rate has grown more quickly than any time since the 1950s (the baby boomer years).

By 2014-15, the majority of the shortages of the places are indeed for Primary Schools and the remainder for secondary schools. However, the question is when the Primary School children grow up, are sufficient places available in the current Secondary Schools?

In 2012, the DFE estimated that by 2018-19 a further 400,000 places are required.

We are already seeing an impact within South Bucks. According to local press reports, St Mary’s & All Saints in Beaconsfield  are suffering from over capacity and are requesting to increase capacity to ease place shortages.  In 2010, at least 14 children from Beaconsfield were left without a place at any of three Beaconsfield schools and were offered places four and a half miles away.

It seems that the increase in Birth Rates have also impacted South Bucks with the increase in demand for Primary School places. According to South Bucks County Council website, over the next 25 years, it is expected that the 0-19 years segment of the population is expected to grow by over 20% compared to 10% in England.

The increase in the school age population and the shortage of Primary School places in South Bucks will eventually impact the secondary schools.  This will mean extra constraints in catchment areas.

Already we are seeing this problem manifest itself. I personally know of two sets of parents who are on the waiting list of Secondary Schools in Buckinghamshire. One is on the waiting list of Beaconsfield School and the other for Chalfont Community College. Both families live in South Bucks.

In fact, at the recent meeting between the Parish Council and Dominic Grieve, the minutes state that “Dominic pointed out that at some point South Bucks would need a new secondary school as the Chalfonts Community College was only 30 places away from saturation”. This statement along with the national trends and the migration of Sikhs from Slough to South Bucks, does seem to suggest that there will be a very near term requirement for additional school capacity.

The opening of Khalsa Secondary School in Stoke Poges which falls into South Bucks is a viable long term solution to a problem that is bound to come. So perhaps the challenge is whether the Khalsa School can meet the needs of local Christian and non-Christian parents, so that it can eventually become the local choice for parents. 

Many parents at the consultation open day welcomed the concept of the school and its ethos as well as the extra-curricular activities but were unsure about the Sikh faith label. Khalsa has stated that those parents that do not want to adopt the Sikh religious assembly can opt out and have their own assembly. Equally Sikh studies is not mandatory for non-Sikhs so in the end the Khalsa school is a school that delivers the national curriculum with a rich sports extra curriculum. Equally because of its ethos and approach, it will become a high performing local school for those non-Sikh pupils who do not make it to a Grammar school. 

We normally blame the government for thinking short term but it is fair to say that they can be commended for thinking long term in this case.