This consultation started on 23/3/2009 and ended on 2/5/2009
The following reports are available:
Proposals for the development of Holy Cross Primary School
Development of Holy Cross Primary School
The Governing Body of Holy Cross Primary School is proposing to:
• establish a non-denominational bilingual course in partnership with the Authority and the Lycée Français
• increase the number of Catholic places at the school
• transfer the school to new buildings
This consultation explains these proposals and provides an opportunity for everyone to comment before a decision is taken on whether or not to proceed.
Holy Cross Primary School
Holy Cross is a voluntary aided primary school in the trusteeship of the Diocese of Westminster. The school was founded by the Catholic Church to provide education for Catholic children from the Parishes of Holy Cross and Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Fulham.
It currently admits 30 pupils - 1FE (1 form entry) - to the foundation stage
each year and is heavily over-subscribed. It also has a nursery class.
Establishing a bilingual course
Following discussions between the local authority (Hammersmith & Fulham), the Diocese of Westminster, Holy Cross and the Ecole de Fulham, now based in Clancarty Road, the governors of Holy Cross School have agreed to consult on a proposal to introduce a bilingual (English/French) course in partnership with the Ecole de Fulham in September 2010.
The school is well placed to meet the challenge of this innovative development, which will extend opportunities for families living in the south of the borough, building on the values of care and excellence which lie at the heart of the School’s Catholic ethos.
Holy Cross is a high performing school with a strong track record and a broad curriculum, which already includes a modern foreign language for all pupils. It is strongly committed to developing a course together with the Ecole de Fulham which will enable children from different cultures to be educated together in English and French.
An additional 28 reception age pupils would be admitted each year for a bilingual education. Pupils, drawn from both schools, would be taught together by teachers from each of the schools, using an agreed common curriculum. All of the bilingual pupils would be accommodated at the Ecole de Fulham in Clancarty Road, Fulham.
Admission to the bilingual course would be determined without reference to religious commitment, in accordance with over-subscription criteria similar to those used for community primary schools in the borough, i.e.children in public care, children defined as being a priority need or as having an exceptional educational, medical or social need which can most appropriately be met by the bilingual course at Holy Cross and children who live nearest to the Ecole de Fulham in Clancarty Road.
Holy Cross Primary School will continue to set its own admissions policies to ensure that places are provided for local Catholic children. Children wishing to go to Holy Cross and not take up a bilingual place would still have to meet the school’s current admissions criteria.
The full admissions policy can be seen as an attached document below.
Pupils admitted to the bilingual course would normally be expected to remain in the course until they transfer to secondary school at the age of eleven. There would be no automatic right of transfer from the bilingual course to the standard course at Holy Cross Primary School.
The management and development of the course and arrangements would be overseen by a joint management committee, which would advise the two governing bodies.
For the immediate future, the bilingual provision would not extend to the nursery class, although the Authority would be open to considering this in the longer term.
Increasing the number of Catholic places and
a new building
Holy Cross is also proposing to double its Catholic provision and to move into new accommodation in 2012, subject to Government approval of a large primary capital bid.
The school currently admits 30 pupils to Reception each year. It gives priority to Catholic applicants and, because it is heavily over-subscribed, all pupils admitted through the normal annual admission arrangements are Catholics. The school is proposing to increase the admission number for Catholic pupils from 1FE (30 pupils) to 2FE (60 pupils) in 2012.
For projections of the potential school roll, see the supporting document below.
Please read the attached documents before proceeding with the survey.
Thank you for your feedback.
