Education in Vassall

Many Vassall primary schools are among the best in the country – thanks to Labour Government investment supporting the hard work of teachers, parents and children. Standards are also rising in our secondary schools, but we need further improvements and we need immediate action from the Council to tackle the shortage of secondary school places.

With more money on offer from the Government, Lambeth has the best chance in decades to create new secondary schools and provide additional places in schools that are popular with parents. Extra places would also help deal with Vassall parents’ concerns about admissions. But because the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives failed to make education a priority, hundreds of children were left without a place in a local school every year.

Labour worked with the Government from day one to make sure the money comes through faster to provide the new school places we need.

Labour’s commitments for better schools:

• Opening two new secondary schools, and expanding other popular schools
• More affordable childcare and after-school places to help hard-working parents
• Ensure school meals are healthy and nutritious to boost children’s learning and well-being
• Increase community access to school facilities like computers, libraries and sports
• Upgrade play equipment for younger children across Lambeth

How Labour’s providing more school places
When Labour was elected by local people in May 2006, plans had not been finalised for a single new secondary school or for the expansion of any existing school. Labour has made it a priority to provide the additional school places Vassall children need. Our goal is to provide a place in a good local secondary school for every child that wants one.

A new secondary school for Brixton

The Council has identified the current waste depot site on Shakespeare Road as the site for a brand new secondary school after the Tories and Liberals had originally tried to fob local people off with an undersized site alongside a railway track. The school will be a City Academy, and the sponsors will be the well established educational charity ARK (www.arkonline.org), who have a strong track record of running successful secondary schools in inner city areas.

The school could already be well on the way to opening, but the Tories and Liberals refused to find a new site for the waste trucks to be relocated. Labour quickly sorted out the problem after winning the Council elections in May, approving plans within weeks to purchase a new permanent site. Because getting that site ready will take several years to complete, the waste trucks will be temporarily dispersed to a number of sites so the school can go ahead as quickly as possible. The new school will open on a temporary site in 2008 while building work continues, and will move to its permanent site on Shakespeare Road ready for the new academic year in 2009. With six forms of entry as well as a sixth-form, the new school will provide 180 new Year-11 places.

Expanding existing secondary schools
As part of its ‘Building Schools for the Future’ (BSF) programme, the Labour Government has offered Lambeth over £230 million to rebuild, refurbish or expand every existing secondary school. That means more chances for parents to secure a place for their child at one of Lambeth’s most popular secondary schools. The Council is now in discussions with the Government about when the work will begin, and the Council is hopeful it can start next year. With the biggest-ever investment in Lambeth’s schools, Labour is confident that the extra places being created will solve the shortage of places that Lambeth’s defeated Tory-Liberal coalition left behind.

Do you have an education related problem that you need help with? Contact Andy at andy@lambethlabour.com for assistance or complete the form below.