BARKINGSIDE: Controversy over possible school staff cuts due to falling admissions (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

BARKINGSIDE: Controversy over possible school staff cuts due to falling admissions

5:21pm Friday 19th March 2010 in

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ONE of Redbridge's high-achieving faith schools could cut staff due to falling admissions, at a time when there 127 children without a secondary school place for next term.

King Solomon High School, in Forest Road, Ilford, has seen a drop in admissions from 157 in 2005 to 122 in 2009 – a fall of around 20 percent – and could cut staff as a result, according to the Jewish Chronicle.

A report by the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC), which looks after the interests of Jewish schools, suggested the school should either reduce pupils numbers or recruit more non-Jewish children to boost funding, with a warning that declining admissions could hurt the quality of teaching.

The school admitted 15 non-Jewish pupils in September 2009. The school has filled all 150 places allocated for year seven admission next September.

Redbridge Council provides annual funding of £3,069 per pupil in year seven.

Headteacher Spencer Lewis said that the needs of students were the most important factor in any decision.

He said: "The school is certainly admiting non-Jewish children and we have been doing so for a while very successfully.

"We are currently looking at our entire curriculum provision in terms of what courses we are offering and whilst it is true there may be some redundancies we are confident that this will not affect the school's curriculum offer or success."

Mr Lewis has attributed the declining admissions to an increase in Jewish school places available in north-west London.

“Children who would have happily joined King Solomon now attend the enlarged JFS [Jewish Free School] and Yavneh, although King Solomon remains the overwhelming choice for Jewish families in north-east London."

Earlier this month it was reported that staff had been called into a meeting to discuss the cash shortage, where voluntarily redundancies were one of a number of options discussed.

In April last year the Guardian reported that there were 150 spare places at the school after it didn't receive enough applications, suggesting the decline in admissions is nothing new.

Rabbi David Hulbert of Bet Tikvah Synagogue in Newbury Park, said: “Certainly no-one is worried about non-Jewish pupils going to a Jewish school, they are welcome and make a tremendous contribution.

“The new Jewish school in north-west London, JCSS, has taken the pressure off schools in that part of London, and it used to be that parents who were desperate for a Jewish school used to bus their kids over to King Solomon, which is far from ideal.

“As for redundancies, you've got to balance the books, like anything else.”

Krista Grindley, of Rectory Crescent in Wanstead, has a 15-year-old son at Wanstead High School. She said: “I'm quite surprised they they could cut staff when there's a waiting list. Surely it would be better to open it up to pupils regardless of their faith to fill the places?

“A friend of mine has recently had problems getting her son into a secondary school and we've all heard about the short of places.”

Fellow parent Mohammed Khokhar, of Corbett Road, who also has a 15-year-old son Wanstead High said: “It's surprising, it doesn't seem to make any logical sense.

“It's quite a tough one because there are two sides to the coin. People who are very religious may think that the school should remain purely or mainly for children from religious families, whereas others parents just want the opportunity for their child to go to a good school.

“I wouldn't describe myself as particularly religious, but I'm quite open-minded and I'm happy for my son to go to a non-religious school.”

The JLC report said: “Running an attractive curriculum requires good levels of funding and the principal route to this is through maintaining available places and increasing enrolments.

“Deliberately to reduce income, which will be a direct result of reducing intake, puts at risk the breadth of curriculum that can be offered.”

The situation has also raised questions about the place of faith schools in the borough and whether, in light of place shortages, schools should be able to select pupils on the basis of their faith.