What is the case for a new Jewish secondary school in north-west London?
Latest predictions suggest that in six years there will be around 135 more children from Jewish primary schools in London applying to Jewish secondaries than there are now. Almost enough to fill the 150 places a year which would be available at a new high school.
However, it is not so clear-cut. Until now, Jewish secondaries have taken a sizeable number of children from non-Jewish primaries. But there are now more Jewish primary schools, so correspondingly fewer Jewish children attending non-Jewish primaries. Instead of an overall growth in the number of applicants to Jewish secondaries, it could be that the pool will stay the same but a larger share come from Jewish primaries with a reduced proportion from non-Jewish primaries.
But are there other arguments in favour of opening a new school?
When Yavneh College and then JCoSS opened, there were fears that it might hit JFS, which only a few years earlier had expanded its first-year entry from 240 to 300. Instead, all three schools are over-subscribed, indicating a growing number of parents opting for Jewish schooling. So a new school might help to attract new families rather than detract from other Jewish schools. As the saying goes, "If you build it, they will come".
Then there are unknown factors which could swell the market. No one knows how many French Jews have emigrated here in recent years or whether they will keep coming. The rising cost of private education may be putting it beyond the means of families who once would have set their sights on Habs or North London Collegiate but are now turning to Jewish schools.
What impact could a new school have on other schools?
As a free school, a new school could only reserve 50 per cent of its places for Jewish pupils. While other Jewish children may be able to get in as well, it may have to accept some non-Jewish pupils. But if the future demand for Jewish secondaries is less than predicted and the new school proves popular, other Jewish schools may be left with vacancies and have to take non-Jewish students (as has happened at King Solomon High in Essex). No issue for some Jewish parents, but others would prefer an all-Jewish environment.
The fee-paying Immanuel College, which has enjoyed a recent surge in numbers - with more than 90 first years due to arrive in the autumn - could lose some pupils to a new free school.
So are there alternatives?
If Hasmonean High School expands to 210 places a year from 150 with the proposed relocation of its boys' section, that might help to alleviate the pressure on places. Other schools could open an extra class, as Yavneh College has done as a one-off for the coming year.
King Solomon has dozens of places free for Jewish pupils each year. But whereas an estimated 30 children from Essex travel to Jewish schools in north-west London, north-west Londoners are reluctant to make the trip the other way. A revival of King Solomon is possible if the new head, who took over last year, can improve its academic reputation. Soaring housing prices in other parts of London could persuade more Jewish families to consider settling in Essex.
A more radical option has been floated by the education philanthropist Benjamin Perl. That is simply to give up King Solomon as a Jewish school in return for the government agreeing to a new state-aided Jewish school in north London, which would be accessible to Jewish children from Essex.
