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Overcrowding forces primary pupils to have lessons in church hall
Miranda Bryant23.09.09
Schools in north London are so oversubscribed that a church hall has been turned into classrooms.
Camden council is sending four and five-year-olds to a hall leased for two years because it says every state primary in the borough is full.
Education bosses said they were talking to local primary schools about taking the pupils but parents say the situation is "a mess". They claim the council is risking their children's futures.
Nearly a quarter of children whose parents applied for them to st director of the National Museum of Science and Industry art reception class in the borough did not get a place this year, with 1,919 applications for 1,598 places.
There are 23 children being taught at All Hallows church hall - which the council is calling the Camden Courthope Education Centre - in Gospel Oak, but the total is expected to reach 60 by the end of the year. Parents were told they had "no option" but to send their children to the hall, which is converted into two classrooms with electronic white boards and a playground.
"They [Camden council] haven't committed to going beyond a year, it's a mess," said Calum Roche, father of Anton, four. "There are no long-term plans for these children at all. It's potentially very disruptive for them."
Ardita Doko, from Swiss Cottage, said the centre was the only option she was offered for her four-year-old daughter Hera Zogejai. "I was really worried she wasn't going to get a place. I asked the council all the time what was going to happen if she didn't get a place and they kept telling me just to wait.
"If I could afford it, I would've thought about private school. It's not good that the children will have to move schools."
Headteacher Troy Sharpe said: "Our first day went smoothly. It is a very big day for both parents and children and it was important to us that we helped the children settle in.
"The classroom is well equipped and has been decorated to make the children feel inspired and ready to learn. Although this will only be a temporary home for the children I feel positive that they will enjoy the experience."
Councillor Andrew Mennear, Camden's executive member for schools, said: "I am very pleased the children are off to such a good start and I think the Courthope centre will prove very successful at providing the class with a temporary home. We are still determined to find a permanent solution."
Reader views (6)
No Mass immigration, just very bad planning, all the children but a couple were born in Camden
- A Courthope Parent, Camden
I think they should only accept local children. There is already too much traffic from outside
- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London
This is the situation we're going to be hearing a lot more of. Stupidly, those with a fixed agenda call it racism when people express their fears of over crowding and over-subscribed services.
- Liana, London
it's not immigration to blame. the birth rate is rising, which cannot be attributed purely to migrants, and plenty of middle-class parents are taking their children out of public schools and in to state schools. regardless, camden knew there was a problem and have failed to plan to address it. it is the fault of the administration, not the people.
- Bandora Etrog, camden
i wrote to my councillor almost six months ago as i wanted to discuss reception class admissions and what camden plans to do to accomodate the increasing numbers of children requiring places. so far, and despite follow up e-mails and calls, no reply. that's the level of care camden has for children in the borough.
- Bandora Etrog, camden
mass immigration and no one saw this coming ?
- Grim Reaper, Hell
