A worthy school to merge with

Jun 10 2009 Surrey Herald

FOLLOWING your article on page two of June 3 Staines News ('They have abandoned our girls, say parents'), you might be interested in some points from St James's point of view.

First, it is entirely understandable that St David's [in Ashford] parents were upset to find their school under threat.

There seems little doubt that it was a friendly and much-loved school.

The problem, as we all know, was that not enough parents were choosing to send their children to St David's.

The inevitability of a merger became obvious. Our offer was to keep junior education of both boys and girls on site and to move our senior boys from nearby Twickenham, where they were very short of classroom space and grounds for playing fields.

St James offered to take as many St David's girls as possible at their senior girls school at Olympia which, although some way away, was closer for a few children who lived nearer London.

We also offered to honour existing bursaries, of which there are many.

The arrival of the St James offer seemed to enrage some parents even further, as you wrote in your article. Not only were their girls losing their much-loved school but the incoming school was boys, and the offers of help at St James Olympia was not seen as being acceptable (although some are taking up the offer).

The final straw was when research showed that St James had, in your words, a 'controversial' past. At last, a scapegoat.

Here, some facts might be relevant. St James was founded by members of the School of Economic Science, a charity founded in 1937 to study 'natural law'.

However, St James is legally separate from the SoES; it has its own chairman, its own board of governors and its own articles of association.

Some of the present governors and teachers of St James are members of the SoES and some are not.

The inquiry mentioned in your article was instigated by the governors themselves, into events which were said to have taken place some 20 or so years earlier.

The independent chairman of the inquiry found there had been an overly harsh disciplinary regime at the time (1975-1985) but also added that the schools today (2004) were happy places.

The governors, in accepting his findings, unreservedly apologised to the pupils of that era and started a reconciliation process between the teachers and pupils of that time.

For our part, we would like as many of the St David's junior children to stay on the site in September as is possible, but the matter is of course for the parents to decide.

To help with the decision we are holding a series of open days for interested parents (and children) to visit us.

We are proud of the children who come to our schools and we are particularly proud of them when, as young adults, they leave us to make their way in life whether at university or in the world of work.

They are the best testimony for the St James education.

JEREMY SINCLAIR Chairman St James Schools

Via email