By Amanda Letch, Head Teacher, Thomson House School.
Thomson House School came into existence in September 2013. The school is part of Stamp Education Trust and is located on two sites, approximately 300m apart and divided by the busy railway line into Waterloo. Stamp Education Trust were given the two sites by Richmond Borough, pre-opening in 2013. The school was judged outstanding by Ofsted in 2015.
Lower School is located in Sheen Lane, next door to Mortlake Station Garage and opposite Elmwood Woodshed – both of which have a variety of large vehicles needing access to their sites all day. Lower School borders Sheen Lane which is a heavily traffic-laden thoroughfare split by the Mortlake Station level crossing. The level crossing barriers are at peak times down 48 minutes out of every 60, creating a lengthy queue of traffic right past the school’s front door and small adjoining playground. Air pollution has long been a concern of the school and its community.
Old United Reformed Church, Vernon Road, Mortlake
A second site exists for THS in Vernon Road – in the old United Reformed Church. Whilst the inside space is aesthetically pleasing in reality the leaded windows are draughty and many of them sealed shut which, with no air conditioning, causes huge problems all year round. The biggest drawback to Vernon Road is that there is no outdoor space, as the historic building borders the pavement. The impact of this is that we have to take all the Upper School children offsite every day to Mortlake Green for their extended break time. This requires much manpower to keep in-line with adult-child ratios and much time as we need to stagger the use of the Green so that the local community do not feel overwhelmed by THS pupils. The parks department are, however, not best impressed with 150 children trampling over their grass every day…
Five reasons Thomson House School supports the MBCG Community Plan:
- Our current locations are simply not fit for purpose for a school – let alone an outstanding one. We could expand the school if we moved to a larger, fit for purpose site.
- The safety of the children at THS is paramount – a school which borders a main road; a railway line with a level crossing; a builders’ supplies business with heavy articulated lorries accessing it; and a mechanics’ garage is a recipe for disaster.
- THS has a small fraction of the DfE’s outside space requirements for primary education.
- The safeguarding issues of taking 150 off-site every day for break time would not exist.
- The footprint of a primary school on the Stag Brewery site would be significantly smaller than that of a secondary school – allowing for a less dense development.
- The community would regain Mortlake Green.
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