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The Proposed Free School

The proposed Oasis Free School (Oasis Community School Waterloo) would be a new secondary school serving the local Waterloo community. It would create a small, safe, learning environment for local children, offering an excellent educational opportunity where every student can reach their full potential. Oasis Community School Waterloo would be sponsored by Oasis who have worked in the local area for a number of years and offer a wide range of childrens, youth and family community services. As part of this Oasis is already responsible for Johanna Primary School as well as Oasis College of Higher Education, on Westminster Bridge Road, which offers both under-graduate and post-graduate courses and currently has 250 students. The purpose of this consultation is to explore the viability and desirability of opening Oasis Community School Waterloo to create a 4 Form of Entry, inclusive, co-educational learning environment for secondary aged children from the local community to open in September 2013.

The Vision
Waterloo is an important centre for the UKs arts and media industry, as well as for higher education, various global businesses, healthcare and tourism. Its just a stones throw from the seat of UK government and a near neighbour to Londons financial district. Yet, too much of this wealth bypasses the local community altogether. Waterloo is often seen as little more than a transport hub for commuters and tourists, with the result that most investment into the area centres around their needs. Oasis goal is to create a world class secondary educational environment which harnesses the richness of the surrounding environment for the benefit of our local children. We believe that this will also help create a much needed, stronger sense of community for young people here in Waterloo.

We believe that there is a specific need in the Waterloo area for a new, small, secondary school; a school to and from which local children can travel safely by foot instead of taking tube or bus rides; a school where each student is known and where the relationships that they have built through their years of primary education can be maintained. We believe that meeting these needs will play a vital role in terms of every local young person reaching their full potential. At the moment there is no local secondary school serving the whole local community. As a result our children are scattered. The one secondary school in Waterloo Nautical is for boys only and serves a London-wide catchment area rather than seeing itself as a local school. But Lambeth Councils report on School Demand and Primary Expansion (presented to Cabinet on 12th December 2011) explains, The overall population projections for Lambeth suggest that, in spite of the difficulty in accurate forecasting, the dramatic increase in primary place demand will continue, with the shortage spreading to secondary places around 2015/2016. We do not want Waterloo to be disadvantaged again by the demand on secondary school places from the rest of the borough. We do not want local parents to be left competing over the remaining places which are not in our area anyway. Its time to plan ahead. Its time to invest in Waterloo and in the future of our children and young people. Oasis already works in partnership alongside other local agencies such as WaCoCo, Waterloo Quarter BID, the Southbank Employers Group, Coin Street Community Builders, St. Thomas Hospital, The Old Vic Theatre and Morley College. Building on the strength of these existing relationships we will create a local secondary school of excellence and help build a strong sense of pride for our whole community.

The Curriculum
The Oasis Community School Waterloo will: Ignite young peoples curiosity and thirst for learning. Cover the National Curriculum as well as using its small size and unique set of community partnerships to offer increased, tailormade, personalised learning and individual one-to-one tuition to each student. Offer a curriculum with a range of rich, enjoyable and high quality learning experiences. Alongside a clear emphasis on the National Curriculum core subjects including English, maths and science, the school will introduce a wide range of courses to develop the skills, abilities and aptitudes that are recognised, as well as highly valued, by colleges, universities and employers. These will be delivered in partnership with the business, arts, university, government and tourism specialist institutions in the local area. Offer a range of accredited Post 16 courses as formal apprenticeships with local businesses. Serve local children, and accept students irrespective of faith or ability. Create extended educational opportunities for the whole community.

The Governance
The School Council will be made up of representatives from parents/ carers and staff, alongside other representatives from the local community and local businesses appointed for their skills, abilities and local knowledge as well as from Oasis Community Learning and one from the Local Authority.

The Site
Currently several local options are being actively explored. Though, at present, the site of the school is yet to be finalised, this will be done as part of our stage two submission to the Department for Education in the autumn of 2012.

This Consultation
This consultation aims to help you understand Oasis proposal for the new school and to express your views on its development. You can also take this opportunity to record your desire for your child to be part of the school when it opens. You can do so by completing the form at the end of this leaflet or by filling out the online questionnaire at: www.oasiscommunityschool.org

The Next Steps

This initial consultation concludes on 10th February. If it has gained general support we will then submit an outline Free School proposal to the Department for Education. If this submission is considered viable by the Secretary of State for Education we will be invited, in the autumn, to put together a detailed business plan including a fuller community consultation and full details of the proposed site and curriculum. Having submitted this, we will wait for the Secretary of State for Education to make a final decision about whether the school can go ahead or not.

Contact us
This initial six week consultation, is running until 10th February although, if you have questions or want to sign up after this date, please do get in touch with us at: Deborah Cruse The Oasis Centre 75 Westminster Bridge Road London, SE1 7HS [email protected] or telephone 020 7921 4263 Please also look at our website for updates: www.oasiscommunityschool.org www.oasiscommunitylearning.org You can follow us on Twitter @OasisSchoolSE1

About Oasis Community Learning

Oasis Community Learning, a multi-academy educational trust, is currently a family of 14 Academies that are a combination of Secondary, Primary and All-through schools. It is part of the Oasis group of charities, founded in 1985 by Steve Chalke. Oasis works to deliver housing, training, youth work, health care, family support and primary, secondary and higher education. In the UK Oasis employs around 2,000 staff as well as working with thousands more volunteers. Oasis also works in 9 other countries around Europe, Asia, Africa and North America.

Questionnaire
This questionnaire aims to help gather views on our proposal for the Oasis Community School Waterloo. We are consulting with potential parents/ carers as well as the wider community: your view is important to us and we welcome your response. Please tick the boxes as appropriate. 1. I would like to have a local secondary school in Waterloo serving the local children.
Strongly agree Agree No view Disagree Strongly disagree

2. What do you think are the most important aspects of the Oasis Community School Waterloo? (Please rank from 1 to 10, 1 being the most important and 10 being the least important.)
Excellent academic facilities Smart students in uniform Facilities open to the community State-of-the-art computing facilities Design of the learning environment Good exam results Good teachers Parent/carer involvement Vocational training A curriculum that mirrors real life work situations

3. Do you think that the idea of offering a range of accredited Post 16 courses as formal apprenticeships placed with local businesses adds value to the current range of existing options open to young people in the local community?
Strongly agree Agree No view Disagree Strongly disagree

4. Please add any other comments below (please feel free to attach an additional sheet if required)

Register your Interest

Please provide the information below if you wish to register your interest in sending your child to the proposed Oasis Community School Waterloo, or alternatively, if you wish to be kept informed about the Free School proposal.

Title: Full name: Address: Postcode: Telephone number (daytime): Email: What connection would you have with the proposed Oasis Community School Waterloo?
Parent/carer of a child at a local Primary School Staff/Governor at a local Primary school Member of the public Other, please specify

Do you have a child that you would like to attend the Oasis Community School Waterloo once it is open?
No Yes, If yes, what year would your child be eligible to start in Year 7? 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 and beyond

If the Oasis Community School, Waterloo is opened, would you select it as the first choice for your childs education rather than another school?
Yes No

Thank you for completing this form.

Deborah Cruse, The Oasis Centre 75 Westminster Bridge Road London, SE1 7HS

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