The Cookham Plan
People and Places Group
Education and Schools
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The Cookham Plan People and Places Group Education and Schools |
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Education for children in The Cookhams is the responsibility of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) who organise it on a Borough basis rather than on a ring-fenced geographic location need. The three Primary Schools in The Cookhams have a greater capacity than that required for the indigenous population, and consequently act as a resource for the Borough for northern Maidenhead. There is no secondary school located in The Cookhams, and so in contrast to their younger counterparts, the older children have to travel out of The Cookhams for schooling. The Borough does operate a flexible arrangement whereby older children can go to school in Marlow, as well as Maidenhead, even though the former lies outside the RBWM jurisdiction. The consequence of this is that there is a daily migration of children both in and out of The Cookhams, which puts strain on the infrastructure.
However, the education plans of the RBWM are such that this situation is regarded as continuing into the future and the Cookham schools figure prominently in the education plan for the foreseeable future.
Findings
If one of the schools in Cookham were to require major work and or be considered for closure, its capacity might be replaced by facilities in north Maidenhead. This might then put at risk the situation that we have at the moment where at least every Cookham child can have the opportunity of a local primary education. Accommodating children from outside the Cookhams does seem to be an arrangement that is advantageous to local children. This point was put to the population as one of the questions in the Questionnaire (see Appendix I, Q5). 33% said that they thought it ought to be the subject of a specific study, 19% said that it shouldn’t, and 48% had no opinion. Therefore, it appears to be more of an issue of transport and infrastructure, rather than an educational one.
Action Plan
Retain the number of school places in The Cookhams to ensure that all local children have the opportunity of a local primary education.
Improve the transportation arrangements for the schools.