1941: On this day, 814 20-year-old city girls responded to their call-up papers - although some forgot their registration card! Many of the girls had come with their mothers, while others had their boyfriends for company. Some are described as arriving 'with an army escort on either side'. Quite a few perambulators are also recorded as being parked outside the building. (Gray, David, Peterborough at War 1939-1945, David Gray, 2011)
Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.
A new taxpayer-funded Catholic state school, believed to be the first in a decade, was approved after an appeal against it failed.The new primary school is due to open in the Hampton Water development in 2022 with 90 pupils with the aim it will grow to accommodate 630, and is part-funded by the local authority and will have the right to select wholly on religious grounds.
When free schools were introduced by Michael Gove a 50 per cent cap was placed on faith admissions for over-subscribed schools. In 2018 Damian Hinds, who was education secretary, made it easier for local authorities to open voluntary-aided faith schools, which historically have part of their capital costs met by the religious community. Voluntary-aided faith schools are not limited in the extent to which they can prioritise pupils by religion. They are also council-maintained schools and, under existing rules, new ones require the local authority approval. If the school is oversubscribed, it will make the selection 80% Catholic faith-based, with the rest chosen by proximity.
Peterborough city council is funding 10 per cent (between £1.1m and £1.5m) of Hampton Waters Roman Catholic School while the other 90 per cent (£9.9m - £14m) is coming from the Department for Education. Some councillors “called in” the council’s approval last month, believing the decision to be flawed. They urged it to reconsider but their appeal was rejected on Wednesday 12 February. The council approved plans for the school after a public consultation and said 83 per cent of respondents were in favour. The councillors who challenged the decision told the Peterborough Telegraph last month: “Of the 1,911 responses received, just 7 per cent were submitted from residents who live in the postcode where the school would be built, while only 7.2 per cent were identifiable as being from the wider area within Peterborough city council’s boundaries. We do not agree that these figures support the council’s conclusion that there is ‘very strong support for a Roman Catholic school’ in Hampton Water.”
Stephen Terry, chairman of the Accord Coalition, which campaigns for fair school admissions policies, said: “The decision of Peterborough council is a worrying backward step for integration, facilitating as it does further religious discrimination and segregation in the school system.”
A Department for Education spokeswoman said: “Voluntary-aided schools are among the best-performing in the country and are valued by parents for their strong and positive ethos. Priority was given to schools that support integration and inclusivity when considering applications to help fund new voluntary-aided schools.”
References:
The Times, 14 February 2020
The Peterborough Telegraph, 17 January 2020
BBC News 14 February 2020