New housing developments spark concern over shortage of school places in Haddenham.

Sue reports: 

“As we watch the continuing growth of Haddenham it is not surprising that parents and residents are becoming worried about whether the infrastructure will be able to keep pace with the increasing population.

“I was approached recently by parents of three and four-year-olds who are starting to wonder if there will be Reception places for them at either of the two infant schools in the village, especially those living furthest away from the schools.

“As a result, I recently made visits to two of the three Haddenham Schools and found that the headteachers too are concerned about imminent over subscription. Up to now, the two infant schools have been able to offer places to all Haddenham children who have applied within the application time frame.

“For Reception children starting in September 2023, two ‘out of catchment’ places have been allocated and two Haddenham children have not got places, but these are from families who applied after the deadline. Unfortunately, places cannot be ‘saved’ for potential residents. This suggests that what will happen now is that children of primary school age who move into the village will not get school places in Haddenham for years to come.

“Haddenham Community Junior School is oversubscribed in all year groups, running classes of 32 in most years. Head teacher Andy Leach is convinced that it won’t be long before Haddenham children will not be able to access their local school.

Andy said: ‘The current model isn’t going to work long term; we have expanded to the limits.’

Sue continues: “One of the main reasons people want to live in Haddenham is the excellence of its schools. All classrooms have been extended in the last few years to accommodate the increasing numbers of pupils but, on my visit, I could see that it certainly is running at maximum capacity.”

Sue also reported that Karen Collet, head of Haddenham St Mary’s Infants, predicts that she will not be able to accommodate all village children from next year as both infant schools are at capacity.

Sue has contacted the Head of Education at the Council to ask what it being planned to enable school places to keep up with house building.

Paula Campbell-Balcombe from Schools Commissioning said:

“We are aware that there may be potential pressure in Haddenham in the future owing to the housing growth and migration into the area.  We have therefore arranged to meet with all three schools in the village to talk through the projections and to consider potential options for accommodating future growth.  Should there be any plans arising from this in relation to expansion of schools we will of course keep you informed. “

Sue commented: “Clearly, an extra form of entry will be required very soon in Haddenham and hopefully the meeting will come up with a plan to do this. This means that a total of seven new classrooms will be needed as the extra form moves through the system. There is little room for physical expansion at the Community Infant School unless the nursery were to be moved out. This would compound the current problem of lack of pre-school places.

“In addition, urgent action is needed to find new premises for CHUFF (Chearsley and Haddenham under-fives) as they near the end of their current premises’ lease.

Sue concluded: “This all shows that the Council needs to be much more concerned with infrastructure growth as it grants permission for house building. Some joined up thinking would stop health, community and education provision lagging so far behind.”

If you are a parent or resident concerned about the future provision of school places in Haddenham or Bucks in general, please email us.