Suburban private schools reap the benefits as families move out of London
Independent establishments in home counties see surge in applications, as workers sell expensive city properties and reinvest in education
1 May 2021 • 4:41pm
London s population is set to decline for the first time in more than 30 years
Credit: Getty
Private schools in home counties are reaping the benefits of the city worker exodus as they see a surge in applications.
Fee-paying education establishments in Surrey, Hampton, Henley-on-Thames and even as far as Oxford have had unexpected increases in the number of families registering for places.
Melanie Sanderson, managing editor at the Good Schools Guide, said that schools outside of London are “certainly seeing their numbers bolstered” by families who have moved out of the city.
Schools look forward to welcoming back children );
Schools will re-open on Monday, March 8 as the Government gradually eases the coronavirus restrictions.
Only the children of key workers and those considered to be vulnerable have been in school since the third national began in January and staff have had to have coronavirus tests twice a week.
Other pupils and their teachers have reverted to remote learning at home.
Gillotts School in Henley has been looking after 30 to 35 pupils each day.
Headteacher Catharine Darnton said the school had learned important lessons from the first lockdown last year.
She said: “Of course, we want all our students back with us as soon as that is deemed to be the right course of action in terms of case rates and pressures on the NHS.”
School honours staff and pupils at lockdown awards );
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SCHOOL staff who helped to make face shields during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic have been honoured.
The design and technology department at Shiplake College made hundreds of visors back in April when supplies of personal protective equipment were running low.
Teachers and students worked together in socially distanced groups, producing more than 100 visors a day.
These were sent to GP surgeries in Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire as well as the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading.
The department and volunteers received the supporting the community award at the college’s inaugural Lockdown Awards, which were held online.
Must do better Boris, say heads );
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HEADTEACHERS have expressed their frustration at the Government’s 11th hour decision to close schools and switch to remote learning.
Boris Johnson announced on Monday evening that all schools, colleges and universities would be shut for the majority of students until at least the February half-term as the coronavirus pandemic worsens.
Some had been back just a day after the Government insisted at the weekend it was safe for children to return at the start of term.
But then the Prime Minister announced a third nationwide lockdown in less than a year, saying that hospitals were under more pressure from covid-19 than at any time since the start of the pandemic.