In recent years three schools have closed in this area: Huntley School in Tunbridge Wells, Ridgeway School in Southborough and Eden Valley School in Edenbridge. Each school day a vast army of children is on the move. Some children travel considerable distances. A horde passes through Tonbridge railway station each school day.
The cost of this daily travel must be huge, particularly as fuel costs and fares have risen strongly in recent months. The carbon footprint must send the Green Party into a tizzy.
The human cost of all this travel is enormous. Children are away from home a long time, those who have to use public transport forgo after school activities.
The Coalition's free school initiative provides an opportunity to escape from the straitjacket of local education authority planning. However, the process for opening a school is an administrative nightmare.
In Edenbridge a group has been formed with the express intention of opening a free school in the town. The support of the local MP has been solicited and the leader of the group has announced that there is a secret benefactor. Why the identity of this benefactor should be a secret beats me. How can a group be expected to work if it does not know the individual or organisation pulling the strings? Indeed, if it is planned to solicit support from people and organisations in Edenbridge it is essential to know the identity of the prime mover.
It was announced on Facebook that the school would be named the Harris Hall Academy. This led me to assume that the benefactor was none other than Baron Harris of Peckham who has been setting up schools bearing his name in South London. It has been denied that Baron Harris is the benefactor. Could it be Rolph Harris?
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