Boris Johnson Admits Sulivan School into Gold Club
Just weeks after he backed plans for its demolition
Sulivan Primary School in Fulham has gained coveted membership of the Mayor’s Gold Club for schools across London - just weeks after he backed plans to demolish it.
The Gold Club, set up by Mayor Boris Johnson two years ago, is an annual scheme which identifies and celebrates those exceptional schools in London that are succeeding with all their pupils – but especially with the most disadvantaged.
In Hammersmith & Fulham there are only five Gold Club primaries. Three of them are VA (Church) schools, one is an Academy while just one, Sulivan, a Community School.
The 2013 SATs tables, published last Friday also show that Sulivan's results are outstanding with its Key Stage 2 "value added" results - showing how well pupils are progressing - rated 233rd in England and Wales out of 15,000 schools.
This says the school, is outstanding, positioning Sulivan firmly in the top 2% in the country.
Despite its success however, Hammersmith and Fulham Council is planning to amalgamate Sulivan School with another local primary, New King's School and demolish the current buildings to make way for the Fulham Boys School, a free secondary school for 800 boys.
In October, school representatives and parents visited City Hall to ask Mayor Boris Johnson to intervene and save the school, but were disappointed by his response.
He described the council's plans for Fulham Boys School as "absolutely brilliant".
Jennette Arnold, Labour’s London Assembly education spokesperson, said: “Unfortunately the Mayor’s right hand doesn’t seem to know what his left hand is doing.
“One week he wants to support his friends in Hammersmith & Fulham who want to bulldoze the school to make way for a Free School, and the next he awards that same school membership of his prestigious Gold Club.
“The Mayor claims that he has no influence over education in London, but when he chooses to hand out awards to schools it is clear that he is committed to getting involved in education in the capital. By failing to act, he is letting down the children, parents and teachers of Sulivan Primary School.
“I have visited Sulivan School and it’s a wonderful environment for children. To demolish a perfectly good school in an attempt to push forward the government’s misguided policy on free schools is ludicrous."
The council's cabinet is expected to make a final decision on whether to go ahead with its plans in January.
December 20, 2013
