WE are a firm of Camden architects who have been working with Edith Neville School for 18 months to help them design a new building. We re also local residents. As a result of what we know about the school, we strongly object to Camden Council s scheme to
WE are a firm of Camden architects who have been working with Edith Neville School for 18 months to help them design a new building. We're also local residents. As a result of what we know about the school, we strongly object to Camden Council's scheme to force it to share its site with another school.
We've spent a long time with staff, parents and children and have seen that at Edith Neville 'every child matters' is not just a slogan but something which is palpably at the top of the agenda. Older children are incredibly confident and willing to take risks: they are proud of their school and work hard to actively encourage younger children. This is a school which sets high expectations but also provides the emotional support needed to catch children on those days when they are confused and demotivated.
Children need safe outdoor space to grow up happy and healthy. Most pupils in Somers Town, a very urban area, do not have garden space at home or any other safe shared space outside school. In our professional view, Edith Neville's site is only just large enough to create the right conditions for its children, some of the most deprived in the country. There is certainly not enough land to share it with another school.
Edith Neville is a success - and it has earned the right to full stakes in its own fate and proper control of its own grounds. The council needs to step back from a disastrous decision which flies in the face of considered local opinion and rides roughshod over a much-loved school.
Cany Ash & Robert Sakula
Ash Sakula Architects, Hatton Wall, EC1
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here