Residents for Uttlesford (R4U) and the Saffron Walden Town Council are supporting a joint proposal by the Department for Education and Saffron Academy Trust, operators of the Katherine Semar and the Saffron Walden County High schools, to take over the former Friends/Walden School site.
The Walden (Friends) School closed at the end of its summer term last Friday 7th July. It then published a notice on its website notifying the public of its intent to ‘dispose’ of the school site on Mount Pleasant Rd in Saffron Walden.
Paul Gadd (R4U)Cllr Paul Gadd continued “There is a 30% deficit in local state school places forecast over the next 10 years and so now it is important for the town that the site is saved for educational use. Families that live in Saffron Walden already can’t get their children into local schools. So when the former Friends School first announced it was closing in May, we urged the education authorities to consider taking it into the state-sector to plug the chronic shortfall in school places.”
“We understand that Saffron Academy Trust and the Department for Education are working extremely hard on a joint proposal for state education on the site. The Saffron Academy Trust, which operates the Katherine Semar and Saffron Walden County High schools, is our preferred option and R4U fully supports their bid. Both schools are rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted. We are delighted that there is also unanimously cross-party support on the Town Council where we and the other parties have approved a Labour motion to back a Saffron Academy Trust proposal.”
Cllr Gadd concluded “The former Friends School built a brand new primary school a few years ago. If the Saffron Academy Trust proposal is successful, a new state-school primary could quickly open on the site, with the potential for secondary school provision to follow. The site currently provides very much needed sports facilities for local students, sports groups and the community, and it is also vital to Saffron Walden that these are retained for community use to the fullest extent practicable. We wish the Saffron Academy Trust and DfE luck with their proposals and will work with them to try to help them achieve success.”
If local residents want to lend their support to the Saffron Academy Trust/DfE bid, they can email Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Education via the House of Lords Inbox at contactholmember@parliament.uk.
See the recent BBC News Look East segment about the impact of the closure to local sports clubs and parents.