Reading Borough Council’s forecast demand for school places from 2013 onwards projected an extreme shortage of school places. A meeting was organised by the Caversham and District Residents’ Association in October 2012, at which this was discussed with the community and the council outlined the free school approach as it’s preferred way for the problem to be solved. The Heights Primary School Trust was formed to set up a free school, and in order to fulfil the DfE’s criteria for assessment, it was required to provide evidence of the need for a school and the location of that need. They were asked to demonstrate expressions of interest from parents for each of the school’s first two years of operation and illustrate that there was a lack of school places in the area. Expressions of Interest were collected via an online Evidence of Demand survey which was advertised widely across Caversham between November 2012 and March 2013.
Key Survey Results
The survey elicited 363 responses.
- 99.7% (362) recognised the need for more primary school places in Caversham.
- 99.2% (360) agreed that a new school in Caversham Heights is needed.
- 55.7% (190) of parents said they would select The Heights for one or more of their children.
On the basis of the survey, the need for (and support for) a new school in Caversham was clearly demonstrated.
Subsequent to this initial demand survey, we have been able to see how these projections have manifested themselves. At the time of bidding for funding to open the school (2012) Reading Borough Council anticipated that Caversham schools would be oversubscribed by 60 places beyond the area’s existing capacity by the time the school opened. In the event this figure was in excess of 90 which meant that a bulge class was still needed to accommodate the additional demand beyond those provided at the Heights. Since opening the Heights has had a full intake each year, with this year’s admissions showing a waiting list of 38. The furthest non-sibling, to be offered a place at the school lives just 0.419 miles from the admissions data point (see explanation here – http://trust.theheightsprimary.co.uk/identifying-the-catchment-area/) , despite the school still not having a permanent home.
To understand in greater detail how Caversham and the UK’s population has changed in the last fifteen years to create this increase in demand for primary places, please take a look at some detailed analysis of NAO and census data undertake by the Parents Of The Heights (POTH) which has been published on their website at http://parentsoftheheights.com/evidence-of-need/
The Funding Agreement for the school prevents the Trust from publishing the original bid documentation it submitted. On 16th July 2015 The Department For Education published all the successful bids from Wave 4 of the Free Schools Programme. They were submitted between the end of December 2012 and early January 2013 for funding to open in September 2014 . To see what was involved and read the published document click here:
The Heights Primary Trust Funding Bid
Once the bid was accepted the Trust was required to attend interview in Westminster in April 2013. This led to funding being confirmed in May 2013: