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| Karen Edwards (centre) with Rob Wilson MP and me after the meeting |
The Heights primary school’s information event yesterday evening
was a huge success. Held in Mapledurham Pavilion, the hall was jam packed
with parents of prospective pupils and other interested people from the local
community.
It was the first opportunity for many to
meet Karen Edwards, whose appointment as head teacher was announced in
November. I however was lucky enough to be involved in the interview
process so have met her before.
I was absolutely delighted that The Heights was able to recruit
Karen as it was critical to get the right person for this pivotal role. To have won Karen's confidence and succeeded in
getting her to take the leap of faith to set up this new school shows the
strength of her belief in the parent group trustee’s vision for The Heights.
Karen is a top-notch head teacher and she will, I am sure, bring
all her energy, experience and enthusiasm to the school. Her ethos is centred on providing an
excellent education, bringing on board everybody in the local community. She has demonstrated this at Sacred Heart in
Henley - her current school, and so relishes the opportunity to create this here
in Caversham Heights
Parent trustees Ruth Rosewell and Daniel Pagella, together with Karen Edwards gave
a presentation detailing the background to the bid for the new school,
outlining what free schools are, talking about the rationale and evidence of demand,
together with catchment area. The hottest
topic: that of where the school will be sited, could not be answered unfortunately. An announcement is imminent, however because
the site location decision is down to the Education Funding Agency (EFA) neither it, nor the timing of the announcement, is within the control of The Heights. Do check The Heights' website regularly for updates.
As I said during the meeting, any parent living in the catchment applying for a primary school place for this September should put it down as a preference. Not to do so would be foolish as they would be missing out on the opportunity of being a part of what will undoubtedly be an outstanding local community school. It would also be losing the most realistic chance of getting a local primary school place given the evidence of previous years.
Our community is incredibly lucky to have Karen and I hope
everyone will give her, together with the wonderful parent trustees of The Heights,
the support they all deserve for the huge service they are providing for the
new generation and those to come.
Update
You can read what Rob Wilson MP said on his website
Further update
You can read GetReading's report of the meeting. [The misquote of Daniel Pagella that appeared in the hard copy on Friday has been corrected]
Update
You can read what Rob Wilson MP said on his website
Further update
You can read GetReading's report of the meeting. [The misquote of Daniel Pagella that appeared in the hard copy on Friday has been corrected]
