9th July 2012

MEDIA RELEASE FROM OASIS Oasis Community Learning Announces Plans For Free School in Walthamstow
Oasis Community Learning today announces its proposal to establish a brand new secondary school in Walthamstow which will open in September 2014. The bid to develop the new Free School will be undertaken in partnership with a local parent-led group, Walthamstow Secondary School Initiative (WSSI). Public consultation meetings on the proposal will be held during September and October, and dates for these will be announced shortly. The new Oasis school, to be launched under the coalition governments flagship Free School policy, will be a co-educational school for children aged 11-16 years, with six Forms of Entry, opening with an initial intake of 180 Year 7 pupils in 2014. The school will cover the National Curriculum and prepare students for national tests and examinations at all levels. The school will be fully inclusive, accepting children irrespective of faith or ability. Walthamstow Secondary School Initiative (WSSI) is a parent-led community group which was established in December 2011. Founded and chaired by local parent Jen Powell, the group has over 70 members keen to ensure their children are educated in the borough in a co-educational, non-selective secondary school. The group chose to work with Oasis after considering a number of sponsors, having decided that Oasis ethos and vision was most closely aligned to theirs. Steve Chalke, Oasis Founder, said: I am delighted to be working with a dedicated group of parents to create an outstanding community secondary school in Walthamstow. Oasis will offer both excellent education and many additional opportunities for students and their families as we provide a range of community services through our Hub model of community engagement. We have listened to the concerns of many local families about secondary schooling in the area and wish to work with them to develop this much-needed new school. At present many children from Walthamstow are scattered across several neighbouring boroughs for their education from the age of 11 years due to lack of choice in the local area. Projections for the London Borough of Waltham Forest indicate a severe shortage in the number of secondary school places in the coming years. Therefore our proposal seeks to actively plan ahead to ensure the future needs of the Walthamstow community are met. The proposed Oasis Free School will provide additional secondary school places in Walthamstow ensuring that families have increased choice and the opportunity to educate their children in a local secondary school where they will be able to maintain the friendships they have made during primary school. Oasis hopes to develop close links with local primary schools in order to support children through the primary to secondary school transition phase, which many find difficult. In addition, Oasis plans to develop a range of children, youth and family programmes around the new school to build community and support local residents. Oasis looks forward to continuing to consult with local parents, carers and the wider community in the coming months and will be seeking signatures at the consultation events, from those parents and community members who wish to back their application, which will be submitted to the

Department for Education. Local parents and carers may also sign up online through the website: www.oasisfreeschoolwalthamstow.org. Oasis will be liaising with the London Borough of Waltham Forest and looks forward to a constructive and positive dialogue with them. A number of possible locations for the new secondary school are being considered, and Oasis will work closely with the local authority and the Department for Education over the coming months to identify and secure a suitable site. Oasis and WSSI will be engaging with local partner organisations to determine possible foci for the schools specialist curriculum areas. Oasis Community Learning has a successful track record in delivering education, having established 14 academies nationwide. The educational trust, which will run 19 schools by September 2012 with many more in development, aims to create and sustain a network of excellent learning communities where every child can realise their full potential. In nearby Enfield, Oasis sponsors the increasingly popular Oasis Academy Enfield and Oasis Academy Hadley. Paul Rose, Oasis Development Director, said: We are very excited at the prospect of opening a new secondary school in Walthamstow which will enable children to attend secondary school locally and where each one will have the opportunity to fulfill their potential in a safe and nurturing learning community. The proposed Free School will be the cornerstone of our new our community Hub in Walthamstow, which we will be developing over the coming years to provide a range of integrated community services in this area." Jen Powell, Chair of Walthamstow Secondary School Initiative, said: "We are thrilled to be working with Oasis to bring a much-needed new community secondary school to Walthamstow. Over the coming months I look forward to working with local parents and the wider community to develop a school which will serve the needs of our diverse and vibrant community. We hope local residents will back this proposal and sign up in support of the school. I encourage anyone who would like to join our group to get in touch."

Ends
Editors notes: 1. Oasis Community Learning opened its first three academies in September 2007 in Enfield, Immingham and Grimsby, with six more Academies opening in September 2008: Oasis Academy John Williams and Oasis Academy Brightstowe (both in Bristol), and Oasis Academy MediaCityUK (Salford) and Oasis Academy Coulsdon (Croydon), as well as Oasis Academy Mayfield, and Oasis Academy Lords Hill in Southampton East and West respectively. A further two academies opened in September 2009: Oasis Academy Hadley (Enfield) and Oasis Academy Shirley Park (Croydon). Oasis Academy Oldham opened in September 2010. At September 2011 Oasis Community Learning sponsored a total of fourteen academies with the opening of Oasis Academy Limeside and Johanna Primary School, Oasis Academy Waterloo. From September 2012, Oasis will add a further five new primary academies to the group. 2. Oasis Community Learning is part of the family of Oasis charities. For more information about Oasis Community Learning, go to: www.oasiscommunitylearning.org 3. Oasis Trust was established in 1985 and is now a group of charities working to deliver education, training, youth work, health care and housing in 10 countries around the world. 4. For further information on the Oasis Free School Walthamstow please contact: Lucia Glynn Tel. 07973 940779 [email protected]

5. Follow the progress of the new school on Twitter: @OasisSchoolE17 and on the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/OasisSchoolE17ANewSchoolForWalthamstow?ref=tn_tnmn