Brent Schools update. Islamia Primary'a future remains uncertain. New SEND provision is planned but overall mainstream primary pupil numbers decline presaging budget problems

 I know it is annoying when issues are in the news and then everything goes quiet, so in a Public Question to the next Full Council on November 18th, I requested an update on some of the school stories covered previously in Wembley Matters.

Currently many of our primary schools are experiencing reduced demand following Brexit, and as young families are forced out of the borough in the search for affordable accommodation. This has led to pupil  numbers in schools falling and as funding is per pupil developing budgetary problems. However, there is an increasing need for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision.  There are a number of former education sites that are vacant or due to become vacant and may be more if some schools are forced to close or amalgamate if they are no longer financially and educationally viable.

Particularly quiet has been the situation surrounding the state-funded Islamia Primary School. The school was given an eviction notice by Yusuf Islam (AKA Cat Stevens) some years ago but in a consultation parents opposed the closure and were particularly opposed to a move from Queens Park to the vacant Strathcona site in South Kenton.

Here are the questions and answers. I will have a chance for a follow up question arising from the answer I received, so if you have something you would like me to ask please write it as a comment or  below or send it to wembleymatters@virginmedia.com I will only be able to choose one.

Remember, you too can ask a question at Full Council but it has to be sent well in advance of the meeting.

 

Question from Martin Francis to Councillor Gwen Grahl (Cabinet Member for Children, Young People & Schools)

 

This question regards educational sites in the borough. Can the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Schools please advise on:

 

(1) any progress in finding a new school site for Islamia Primary School, along with the timetable for any move, if applicable.

 

(2) future plans for:

(a) the Strathcona Site in South Kenton; and

(b) the Gwenneth Rickus Building (Leopold Primary) in Brentfield Road.

 

(3) progress on delivery of the following with timetable for completion and full

opening:

(a) North Brent School, Neasden Lane;

(b) SEND School, London Road, Wembley Central

(c) Post 16 Skills Centre, Welsh Harp

 

(4) Recognising that it is not part of the Council’s Estate but is restricted to educational use, whether you also have any information or have been engaged on the future of the Swaminarayan School (formerly Sladebrook) site in Brentfield Road.

 

Response:

 

The Yusuf Islam Foundation is still considering whether it wishes to proceed with the relocation to the Strathcona site following consultation in autumn 2022. No timescale for the relocation has been agreed. Should this proposed use of the Strathcona site not proceed, the site will be used to develop additional provision for children with SEND. In this event, the local authority would continue to work with the Yusuf Islam Foundation to identify a suitable alternative site for the school.

 

As set out in the refreshed School Place Planning Strategy 2024-2028, agreed by Cabinet on 12 November 2024, consideration will be given to opportunities to use any spare capacity within the primary school sector to expand provision for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, given the increasing need across the borough.

 

The Gwenneth Rickus site of Leopold Primary School will continue to be used for mainstream primary provision until September 2027 and the Council has not determined the future use of the site, that could also include provision for SEND.

 

With regards to the other questions:

 

 The North Brent School moved into its new buildings in Neasden in September 2024.

 Wembley Manor, the new secondary SEND school, opened in temporary accommodation this September and the building work is on target for the school to move to its permanent home on London Road in September 2025.

 The design work of the Post-16 Skills Resource Centre based in Welsh Harp is near completion, with a view to building work being completed in 2027.

 

The local authority does not have any information on the future use of the former

site of the Swaminarayan School on Brentfield Road.

OK, it's August -Silly Season - time to see what Brent Council's Cabinet is tabling for their get together on the 13th

Guest post by Gaynor Lloyd
 

If you live in Northwick Park area - or South Kilburn for that matter - it’s worth having a quick look at the  Cabinet papers  about Brent’s  “Regeneration Zones”. LINK 

Yes, some of us lucky residents of leafy Northwick Park were just a bit startled to see ourselves in a “Regeneration Zone”. Some of us weren’t  too shocked, however - though still very , very upset. This is just the latest stage in the story of the plans for what we residents call “the Park”. A fantastic piece of Brent open space, including formal much used sports and  playing fields, a nature conservation area and a golf course. 

And it seems  the Leader of the Council is in charge of this; South Kilburn get the Cabinet Member for Regeneration. I expect we should be flattered. 

This is all about one element of the One Public Estate (OPE)  scheme which has come home to roost in Northwick Park. [More about OPE for those interested at the bottom of this piece **- and see also the linked news stories in Brent & Kilburn Times LINK  

and my letter on Page 13 on the earlier story LINK 

The scheme involves Network Housing, Northwick Park Hospital, Brent Council, University of Westminster and potentially TfL. It’s quite hard to get the detail  but the idea is that there will be 3700 homes  by 2035 somewhere on the margins of the Park. Tower blocks will be built on the land near to the Tube station - a “landmark residential development”.

Sure, as some  papers have emerged, there have been references to key worker housing, and affordable homes  - gosh, do we need key worker housing, and social housing - truly affordable homes - but these proposals  are all very vague. I’ve been trying for more transparency - a couple of Freedom of Information (FOI)  requests over the last 2 years - but not much joy. 

Even though  Brent got a grant of  £530k to do viability research on all this. Including transport research, my current  huge concern - and the reason for asking Martin to post this blog. 

My latest FOI request of Brent  from last December has been so sat on for a very long time -  despite  numerous charming assurances that the sifting process of 100’s of emails was being done  and that the release of  all or some would be opined on “soon” by Brent’s Legal Team . Well, after a last chance given to Brent by the Information Commissioner just to reply at all,  it’s now been accepted by her  as a complaint . I await hearing if the Information Commissioner accepts my argument that the plans should be out in the public domain. 

I was particularly incensed by  the secrecy for the transportation reports/ surveys, and the plans being hatched for  “infrastructure works”  . Principally an access road for this huge re-development. Our very own Regeneration Zone.

Clearly the access road can’t  go across the railway/Tube lines. OK, University of Westminster might be decamping for pastures new; maybe it could go that way. But the University’s plans  seem to be a more recent possible development. 

So where could this road  possibly go? And where might it be considered for going - a location of such commercial confidentiality and sensitivity that Brent can’t possibly release any professional transport reports or plans on it into the public domain? 

Oh, let me think...

Could it be an access road across our Park - designated as Metropolitan Open Land (MOL) - put simplistically, the London equivalent of Green Belt? (The Mayor recently refused an application by Harrow School for a major long planned sports centre on its MOL  land just cross the road from Northwick Park - because it was inappropriate development on MOL) 

It’s not “just” the effect on the environment, or the open air sports facilities; it’s the madness of adding to the roads here, which also serve Northwick Park hospital - a major hospital with (as we all know) a busy A&E. 

But hang on - to finance all this - Brent has a £9.9 million grant from HM Government from the Marginal Viability  Fund bit of its  Housing Infrastructure Fund. To get  this “marginal viability funding”, according to the HMG website , there is supposed to be “market failure”, and  “extensive local consultation” and      “alignment with the Local plan”. Well, these are  a bit news to me but obviously I don’t know everything.

So another reason for my FOI request - which sought evidence of  any of those factors. So far all I have got is a bit of alleged consultation.  Sudbury Court Residents’ Association AGM in April 2017, to which Brent officers did come after a bit of persuading. They brought  a very rum set of slides, including one of rather a scruffy park bench by Northwick Park Tube station, mentioning   litter. The officers did do a bit of question answering by local residents - and promised to revert on some stuff (but didn’t).

If that was consultation, it seems odd  the FOI officer says they have to ask the Chair of the SCRA for her notes of the meeting! Anyway, it wasn’t “consultation” in any normal sense of the word.(NO comments please on Brent’s consultations)

Oh -  and that aligning with Local Plan point. Well, maybe that can be retrospective. The Cabinet paper says “ members may be aware that Brent’s planning department is engaged in consultation on the local plan for which Northwick Park has an allocation “. I’d hope all members (especially on the Cabinet) would be aware we’ve had a bit of Local plan consultation in Brent. 

However, speaking as a local resident (and married to a Ward Councillor) and  having gone to a local meeting  on this Local Plan business   - though I admit I am getting on a bit , so I might have forgotten  - I was completely unaware of any Planning Officer referring to Northwick Park at all. Let alone in terms of revising Northwick Park’s  Local Plan “allocation” or Northwick Park becoming a “Regeneration Zone”.

It seems that the Local Plan “Preferred Options” will be out in November - when “it is proposed to run public consultation specific to Northwick Park in parallel”.

I hope we residents will be having a little pre-consultation consultation amongst ourselves rather more quickly than that. I also hope others in the Borough interested in open space, the environment,  good use of NHS land, pollution, key worker housing and good social housing provision will join us. WATCH THIS SPACE.

[**NOTE on OPE if you’ve got this far!

HM Government OPE is a plan to dispose of “surplus public land”. A particularly infamous issue is the disposal of NHS land in London - based on a couple of reports by Sir Robert Naylor. Generally Sir Robert in his openly available  Report says  to NHS bodies “Identify your surplus land” (that can include unused/empty space like corridors and open walkways, by the way). If your percentages of unused/empty or underused space to your overall site are too high, oh dear, inefficiency - using a carrot & stick approach - the message  is “sell, sell, sell”. Sir Robert’s second, confidential report -  “Naylor 2” - identifies some prime value London NHS sites for disposal  and  is so sensitive NHS England has been fighting a Freedom of Information request I have in on it for around 2 years. 

So clearly a sensitive area generally. Naylor’s reports IS useful in one respect though; Deloittes accountants did a background research report for him - which said sensibly that we ought to be looking strategically at the need for land for NHS use, in light of London’s growing population - and reminding of high land values here if we need to reprovide. Gosh how sensible - how ignored! ]

Gibb offers Labour MPs & Bob Blackman help in setting up a Hindu Free School to replace Swaminarayan

In a debate yesterday Nick Gibb (Minister of State for School Standards) offered two Labour MPs, Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall) and Stephen Pound (Ealing North) help with setting up a Hindu free school to replace the private, fee-paying Hindu Swaminarayan which is to close by 2020.  He advised them to seek help from the New Schools Network and once the proposal was in play promised he would allocate an officer from the DfE to help the proposal reach fruition. He offered to meet the two MPs and Bob Blackman, Conservative MP for Harrow East, to discuss particular proposals. Full Hansard report HERE.

During the debate Sharma praised Blackman for securing the site for the school when he was leader of Brent Council and claimed that Dawn Butler (Labour, Brent Central) was a 'fervent' supporter of the school and that Gareth Thomas (Labour, Harrow West)  had been working with the community to try and find a solution.

The intervention by the Labour MPs is particularly interesting because of the current debate within the Labour Party about its attitude to free schools and academies and whether policy should be to reintegrate them into the local authority, as well as its policy on religious schools. The alternative view is a reiteration of the Blairite line 'standards not structures.'

Blackman took a swipe at Sladebrook High School, a local authority school that had previously occupied the site, describing it as 'notorious' and before closure having more teachers than children. Despite assurances from the Swaminarayan Hindu Mission that they did not want to profit from the site he asked the Minister what protections could be offered for the site which has been 'a school site forever' having been built at the same time as the Stonebridge Estate. Blackman made a vague reference to a possible site for a Hindu free school in Northwick Park.  One of the options for the One Public Estate redevelopment of Northwick Park included a secondary school but this was not the preferred option. There is also a proposal on the table for a North Brent Secondary School.

Gibb replied:

My hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) is, of course, right that the Government’s academies and free schools programme has enabled a number of Hindu faith schools to be established in the state sector for the first time, as free schools set up by organisations such as the Avanti Schools Trust. He pointed to a new school opening this September under the free schools programme. There is also the Avanti House Primary School in Harrow and the Avanti House Secondary School, which were opened under the free school programme—the secondary was rated good by Ofsted in May 2018. There is the Krishna Avanti Primary School in Croydon and the Krishna Avanti Primary School in Leicester, again set up under the free school programme.

There are more than 2,300 independent schools in England, and between them they provide an enormous variety of educational experiences for our young people. Around 7% of children are educated in the independent sector, which is a significant contribution to our education system. Some schools in the independent sector will close and some will open. The independent sector also has a number of faith schools, which bring their own distinctive flavour. Schools with a religious character also play a strong and positive role in the state-funded sector, making up a third of all schools. They are some of our highest performing schools and are often popular with parents, giving them greater choice and the opportunity to pass on their ethos to their children.

Although the independent school sector as a whole is flourishing, with broadly constant numbers of schools and pupils over the past few years, it is inevitable that there will be changes. Every year, a number of independent schools close—usually about 70 or 80. Other schools open their doors in broadly the same numbers, but the profile of the sector tends to change over time in response to a number of factors, including market pressures. We should not forget that independent schools, whether run by charities or as businesses, operate in the marketplace. The decision to close an independent school is a matter for the owner or proprietor alone, except for the small number of cases when the Government seek to close a school because of a serious and extended failure to meet the independent school standards; that has not been the case for the Swaminarayan School.

Unlike state-funded schools, independent schools do not have to go through an approval process before they close. Although the owner or proprietor is asked as a matter of courtesy to inform the Department for Education that the school can be removed from the register of independent schools, there is no obligation to give the Department any details of the reason for closure. The Department passes what it knows to the relevant local authority, in case the closure results in demand for state-funded school places.

It is, of course, always a priority, whenever an independent or state school closes, to ensure that alternative schools are found for the pupils. My hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East is absolutely right to raise that important issue. It can be a very difficult time for families, and sometimes there are added time pressures. Families were told about the closure of the Swaminarayan School well in advance. That is not often the case, and it will assist parents who are currently sending their children to the school.

​

I turn to the closure. Although the school is not in the constituency of the hon. Member for Ealing, Southall, it is likely that many children from families in his constituency attend it. Naturally, those families will have found the announcement of the closure disappointing. It is a reasonably sized school: in January 2018, it had 420 pupils, although only 377 are expected to be there this September, and it caters for an age range of between two and 18 years. When it was inspected in 2014, the Independent Schools Inspectorate found that the provision was excellent. The October 2014 report says the school:

“enables pupils to obtain excellent standards in their work and to develop outstanding qualities as young people”.

It also says:

“Both at GCSE and in the sixth form, pupils benefit from first class curricular arrangements, and from a wide-ranging programme of activities”.

That reflects what the hon. Gentleman said. As I said, there is no requirement to give the Department specific reasons for closure, but our understanding from statements supplied by the trustees is that the reasons are primarily financial, and that falling pupil numbers are the driver. The closure of all parts of the school is now planned to take place in 2020, to give parents the maximum amount of time to find alternative schools.

The school has a designation as a school of religious character and a declared religious ethos of Hinduism, although not all the pupils who attend are of that religion. It is right to acknowledge that the closure of a school with a specifically Hindu ethos is a matter of regret, simply because at present there are relatively few other schools of that nature in England. There are two primary academies, four free schools and an independent school. Most Hindu children attend schools in the state or independent sectors.

As I have suggested, there is nothing the Government can do to stop the closure now that the trustees have taken the decision. We do not fund independent schools, and nor do we come to arrangements that are designed to help them overcome financial difficulties. That is ​what being independent is about; it is not just about giving schools greater freedom to operate in the way they want.

I am sure the school will work closely with the local authority and parents to ensure that alternative schools can be found for the children who are still at the school in 2020. I will write to my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East about the site. If it had been a state school, there are particular provisions to ensure that the first option is for it to open as a free school. As it is an independent school, I will write to my hon. Friend in technical terms about whether there are provisions in statute that can enable the site to continue to be used for educational purposes, or whether it is free for the owners to dispose of as they wish. I will write to him to confirm that position.

I have listened very carefully to what the hon. Member for Ealing, Southall said. The priority over the next two years must be to ensure that the pupils who would have been at the school in 2020, had it remained open, are found alternative places.

We give a lot of help to groups that wish to set up free schools. The New Schools Network is the starting point of that help; once a proposal is in play, we will allocate an official in the Department to help it come forth. A number of Hindu free schools have already been established through that process, and I am happy to work with my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East and the hon. Members for Ealing, Southall and for Ealing North (Stephen Pound), if they want to meet to discuss particular proposals for a Hindu free school to replace the Swaminarayan School.

Parents win stay of execution for Swaminarayan School

The Kilburn Times LINK is reporting that following a 3,000 signature petition  organised by parents asking Trustees and Governors to keep theSwaminarayan schools open it has been decided to keep both the primary and secondary schools open until at least 2020.

The signatures were achieved despite a text message circulated around Swaminarayan Temple volunteers asking people not to sign the petition or pass it on to other groups because it would affect the reputation of the Swaminarayan organisation.

A governor, Tarun Patel, told the Kilburn Times:

We had a review after meeting the parents and came to the conclusion that we will keep both schools open until July 2020.

This will be welcome news for parents in years 4, 5 and 6 as it will allow students to complete their prep-school education.

If it’s feasible and circumstances allow, we will look to keep the prep school open for a further year until 2021.

Parents have put together a business plan that they claim would keep the school open for  another 7 years and are due to discuss their proposals with Trustees and Governors tomorrow.

Angry scenes as Swaminarayan parents protest against school closure

Things turned ugly at Swaminarayan School yesterday evening as parents gathered in the school hall to protest against the shock news of its closure.

A Brent Council spokesperson said: “Brent Council has no role in the decisions of independent schools, including the decision by the Ashkar Educational Trust to close the Swaminarayan School. 

“Any parent, resident in Brent, who is seeking a school place for their child can contact the Brent Schools Admissions Service by emailing school.admissions@brent.gov.uk or by calling 020 8937 3110. 

“In November 2016 the Department for Education approved a proposal to open the Avanti Free School, an all-through (primary and secondary) free school. Under DfE rules, a new school can only be open when a permanent site is identified by the Education and Skills Funding Agency, who are responsible for securing sites for new free schools.”

Parents given one year's notice of closure of independent Swaminarayan School in Brent

The Ashkar Education Trust (AET), the charity behind the fee-paying independent Swaminarayan School in Brentfield Road, Neasden, has given parents one year's notice to find a new school for their children, following the announcement that it is to 'exit the education sector.'

The Swaminarayan is on the site of the former Sladebrook High School and next door to the Leopold Primary School Annex. It has provided all-though education for mainly Hindu pupils for 25 years. AET blamed increased regulatory requirements, difficulties in recruitment and retention of teachers, the ready availability of state-funded Hindu schools and declining pupil numbers as significant challenges that have affected their ability to invest in the necessary improvements, educational and infrastructural, needed to sustain the school. 

In 2012 Swaminarayan announced that they were looking into becoming a Free School and were looking for a site 'in the heart of the Hindu community' but this was not pursued. LINK

The AET accounts show an income of £4.35m and spending of £4.27m in the year to August 2016 and £4.48m and £4.24m respectively in August 2015. LINK

AET disclose that they have had discussions with the Avanti Trust which runs state-funded Hindu faith schools. Avanti, having been granted permission and funding by the Department for Education to run an all-through school in Brent, has been seeking a site - always a problem in land-hungry Brent.

If the DfE can be persuaded to provide the money to buy or lease the Swaminarayan site for Avanti a smooth transition may be possible although Avanti may not have the same close relationship with the Swaminarayan Mandir as the school currently enjoys. If Avanti is successful in its bid parents would be able to apply for a state-funded place there, and subject to meeting the admissions criteria, save on the current fees.

If the Avanti Admissions Criteria give priority to families who live in Brent this may not be easy but Swaminarayan apart from charging fees (although some bursaries ar available) also selects by ability and special needs children do not appear to be welcome. This is from their website:

Parents/guardians may apply for their child’s entry to The Swaminarayan Preparatory School by filling in an application form and paying £100 registration fee (non-refundable), together with a copy of the birth certificate, passport and the last school report.

In order to qualify for entry, a child must reach a certain academic standard in the Preparatory School entrance examinations in English and Mathematics. Pupils may also be asked to do other examinations such as Cognitive Ability tests. He/she will have to pass an oral and written examination.

Although Kindergarten or Nursery children are not tested academically, an informal interview is assessment is arranged with the Head of Foundation Stage. Age appropriate assessments of the child’s ability to speak, listen to instructions, solve simple puzzles, social skills and hand-eye co-ordinations are carried out.

Key Stage 2 children normally spend the whole day in school and lunch will be provided. During the day they complete the examinations and also have an opportunity to get to know the school. The decision to accept a child lies with the Headteacher of the Prep School.

A child may not be accepted in the school if in the opinion of the Headteacher the School cannot provide adequately for the child’s emotional, physical, medical or educational needs.

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With Open Admisisons (non-selective) in the Avanti School it may not be attractive (acceptable?) to some of the present Swaminarayan parents.

AET told parents:

The whole of the Prep School and Senior School will continue as normal from September 2018 until closure in July 2019. This applies to all pupils, except those commencing GCSEs or A-levels in September 2018 (i.e. entering Year 11 or Year 13 in September 2019) who will all be able to complete their GCSEs and A-levels at the School until July 2020. As these plans require a change in our age range, we are in the process of liaising with the Secretary of State for Education to amend our registration details.

With the staff for the academic year 2018/2019 currently in place, parents should feel confident that the School remains committed to maintaining the high standards of education until full closure.

Jitu Patel, Chair of AET said:

It is indeed very sad, particularly for our pupils, staff and parents. We explored several options before arriving at this difficult decision. We have given all parents one year’s notice to find an alternative school as well as a commitment to our staff that their employment is secure for the academic year 2018/19. 

Nilesh Manani, Head of the Senior School since it opened, said:

The children and staff are some of the very best I have had the privilege of supporting and we will strive to ensure that our education standards are maintained until the very end.

Umesh Raja, Head of the Prep School, said:

It is very sad, but the most important thing now is for everyone to work together over the next two years, especially for the pupils remaining at our school.

The school's Summer Fair which was due to be held at the weekend has been cancelled.

Secrecy surrounds Brent Town Hall bidder

Brent Town Hall this evening

The identity of the potential purchaser of Brent Town Hall is the subject of some speculation following the Council's decision to keep many documents secret at the recent Executive that approved sell-off plans.

The disposal of the site is not as straight-forward as first thought. The report to the Executive noted:

The Town Hall land is subject to a number of covenants including a covenant that no part of the land shall be used for any noisy noisome or offensive trade or for the erection of workmen’s dwellings or flats for the housing of the working classes other than such quarters or caretakers lodgings as are usual and necessary in connection with a Civic Centre.

There is the risk that the above covenant could be capable of being enforced by injunction thus preventing the construction and use of the site for a redevelopment consistent with the Town Hall Planning Brief. The appropriation and use of Section 237 powers is required with the object of removing this risk and to facilitate the carrying out of redevelopment scheme.

The application of Section 237 powers would ease the problems although there is still a risk of legal challenge. Another issue is that the site includes open space in the marriage garden that borders The Paddocks. I for one missed the following advertisment in the local press:

The Town Hall site includes a Grade II Listed Building and open space.Public notice of the proposed appropriation to planning purposes of the Town Hall site under Section 122 of the Local Government Act 1972 and disposal of the open space under Section 123 of the Local Government Act 1972 was advertised in the local press on 13th and 20th September 2012. No objections were received

The site concerned can be seen in the pan below and covers a considerable area:

There have been rumours in the past about the possibiolity that the site could be used as a school and the need to address the problem of  'noisome uses' and the inclusion of the public space might reinforce that. The need for getting maximum profit from the site and the proxomity of the Ark Academy  had seemed to make that unlikely but the report includes this intruiging passage - again we don't have sit eof the confidential item in question:

Comments on end user

Members are asked to note the confidential letter received at Appendix 3.

As the Executive is aware from the report considered at its August meeting, the Council is projecting a shortfall of school places and has developed plans to expand primary provision. In addition, proposals to increase secondary provision (where the demand is manifested in later years) will be brought to the Executive for consideration in January.

The Town Hall is not identified specifically as an education site and is not factored into any of these plans, firstly (in terms of secondary provision) because of its close proximity to Ark Academy and secondly because its sale at market value is required to enable the Council’s move to the Civic Centre.

Education uses outside the state-funded sector on this site might have some wider benefits for the local population but their impact would be mainly neutral in terms of their impact on local state education provision.

The last paragraph seems to suggest that there might be the possibility of use by a private school. The Swaminarayan may have decided not to apply for free school status at present but would they be interested in this site?  It is a long way from the Swaminarayan Mandir but is more central and closer to Harrow which supplies many of the pupils. The school told me last month:

The Swaminarayan School is considering applying for Free School status. Whilst we have not found a site, we would wish to locate to a site in the heart of the Hindu community. The excellent education that the school provides at present will be open to all.

Even if free school status is rejected, would they be interested in a prestigious site such as the Town Hall?  Is it 'in the heart of the Hindu community'?

This is pure speculation but I did report back in May 2009 LINK that the Swaminarayan were considering a move to the north of the borough. This would free the present site, which used to be that of Sladebrook High School, as a possible site for a much needed secondary school in the Harlesden area - with the added bonus of the neighbouring Centre for Staff Development becoming free when it moves to the Civic Centre in Summer 2013. As I said pure speculation....

Meanwhile the report approvingly notes that in the bidder's plans for the Grade II listed building::

The key ‘character spaces’ in the existing building are thoughtfully used with minimum design intervention, and the extensions are shown in locations that the brief identifies as being suitable for additional building/enlargement.

Swaminarayan not now applying for free school status in current round

The independent Swaminaryan School in Brentfield Road, Neasden, has decided not to apply to become a free school in the current round This will allow for further consultation.

The headteacher has written to parents stating:

The governors wish to inform you that after a brief initial survey, they will not be applying for a Free school in the current round. We have received a variety of views both formally and informally, from parents and staff of the school on this very important issue. We want to ensure that we have heard the views of the whole school community. To that end we will carry out a more detailed consultation with parents and staff of the school in the new year

 I understand that among the concerns have been expressed are that academic standards will be eroded if the school is no longer able to select pupils for the Prep school and whether central government funding would be sufficient to maintain the small class sizes teachers and children currently enjoy.