Dear Parent/Guardian and Student,

Free School Update

Following the publication of our joint statement relating to Southwater’s Free School proposal, we believe that it is important to further update you on this issue.

First and foremost, thank you for your interest in our correspondence.  We are pleased that our recent intervention has successfully stimulated further debate and discussion.

Some parents have requested a meeting with Heads/Principals in order to enhance their knowledge about key issues and concerns.  In the timeframe currently allowed by the HCT/Oasis proposal (31st January), we do not feel that it is possible to organise a meaningful/representative meeting.  The difficulty of doing so merely underlines our desire to see a “pause” in the process in order to allow everyone’s questions to be answered in a broad and balanced manner.

We are increasingly hopeful that such a delay will be widely supported.  In due course, full consultation and debate about educational provision across Horsham and Southwater would then take place.  Further potential developments in North Horsham make the case for a wide ranging discussion even more important.

In the meantime, we hope that our “Frequently Asked Questions” document is helpful to you  (this can be found under the Sixth Form tab > Current Parents page on this website) – it is by no means exhaustive – and we are, as ever, happy to respond to any direct questions.

Yours sincerely,

Siobhan Denning                                                                     Jackie Johnston
Headteacher – Forest School                                                  Principal – The College of Richard Collyer

Julia Slocombe                                                                        Leon Nettley
Headteacher – Castlewood School                                          Headteacher – Millais School

Jules White                                                                              Sue Winn
Headteacher – Tanbridge House School                                   Headteacher – Southwater Infant Academy

Peter Woodman                                                                      Tony Mason
Headteacher – The Weald School                                           Chair of Governors – Southwater Junior Academy