Planning the Urban Village School

bristol | community | news report Wednesday June 04, 2008 09:25 by Tom

It's time for 'human scale education'

A group of local parents are beginning to look into the feasibility of creating a state school within Ashley Ward for 11 to 18 year olds. This would be based on the Human Scale Education model currently being advocated by James Wetz, former head of Cotham School.

Channel 4 featured James on its Dispatches programme on 11 February examining alternative models of schooling in the UK and the USA. The programme revealed how they attempt to address the needs of pupils by providing features such as;

- smaller schools within schools,
- consistent contact with the same teachers,
- continuous assessment and a more nurturing approach.

Instead of having one school for 1,200 students, many pioneering schools in the USA are creating smaller teaching groups, consisting of just 300 children. These groups are achieving much better results, with happier and more engaged pupils.

The type of school that we are considering would be;

- a state school,
- accessible to all 11-18 year olds within this community,
- a small school with smaller class sizes.

We want eligibility to be based purely on proximity to the school. We would be interested in creating a true community school in the heart of the city, with the diversity of the community reflected in the pupils, staff and governing body.

English as a Second Language could be offered to parents so that they can access the curriculum alongside their children. We feel that parental involvement in the school, helping to design a curriculum that is relevant to all pupils is key in helping to ensure its educational success.

Thinking is at an early stage and we are keen to seek wider views and involvement. We have had some advice on site development, and are also aware that the Department for Education has a clear process allowing any community group, including prospective parents, to develop a case for a new school in their area.

There was considerable support shown at our first meeting and we need to continue to assess what wider community interest there might be in exploring this project and campaigning for it before approaching the Director of Education with our proposals.

We are hoping to use the blog as one vehicle for discussion within our community.
http://urban-village-school.blogspot.com

All interested parties are welcome at our next meeting on Tuesday June 17th at the Malcolm X Centre on City Road, St. Pauls from 8pm til 10pm.

Ruth Myers is the main point of contact at ruth at locallearning.org.uk