Consultation on Proposal to Expand Lilliput CE VC First School - Appendix B

APPENDIX B

Minutes of Parents’ and Public Meeting regarding the Consultation on the Proposal to Expand Lilliput CE VC First School held at 7 pm on Wednesday 4th February 2009 at Lilliput CE VC First School

Present:

70 members of the public including:

Mrs J Jeans, Headteacher, Mrs A-M Lush, Chair of Governors, and Governors, Teachers and Parents of Lilliput CE VC First School

Headteachers of other local schools - Mr K Taylor (Hillbourne School and Nursery), Mr G Pike (Baden-Powell and St Peter’s Middle School), Mrs S Burns (Heatherlands First School), Mrs J Davies (Courthill First School)

Ms Carole McCormack, Salisbury Diocesan Board Schools Adviser

Local residents

Borough of Poole LA Officers present:

Stuart Twiss Head of Children & Young People’s Services – Strategy, Quality and Improvement (CYPS –SQI)

Nicola KeynesSenior Education Officer (Planning & Development), CYPS - SQI

David AldersonCYPS QA & Improvement Officer (Governance), CYPS - SQI

Perwina Whitmore Capital Programme Manager, Property Services

Beryl StokesStrategy Manager (Admissions, Exclusions and Awards), Children and Young People’s Integrated Services

Stuart Twiss (ST) opened the meeting by thanking Mrs Jeans for hosting the meeting at the school. He explained his role and introduced the LA officers present. ST welcomed everyone to the meeting.

ST explained that the Council was consulting on the proposal to expand Lilliput CE VC First School and to increase the school’s Published Admission Number from 60 (2 forms of entry) to 90 (3 forms of entry). He gave a short presentation to explain the reasons for this proposal and invited questions from the audience. He explained that all questions would be given proper thought and consideration and if they were unable to be answered this evening they would be answered via the website. Twenty four questions had been received by the school on behalf of the consultation and these would be read with their answers during the course of the meeting.

Question:Which year groups will be accommodated in the modular block?

Answer:For one year only Year 2 and Year 3 will be accommodated in the modular block and after that just Year 3.

Question:If the plans on display are proposed plans when will the actual plans be available to the public?

Answer:The plans for the modular block will be available when planning permission is applied for. The plans are likely to be the same except for decisions about colours which have not yet been made. The Borough of Poole will liaise with the school when the planning application is submitted.

Question:My son has a hearing problem. How will the modular block accommodate that?

Answer:The modular block will meet current building standards and all general requirements. Particular needs over and above this should be raised through Mrs Jeans so that we can look at specific facilities. The building will not be of lower quality. It will be a high quality, proper building with up to date facilities. We will be looking at all children in Year 2 and Year 3 to assess and meet their needs in advance.

We work closely with the Dorset Hearing and Vision Service to make any necessary adaptations to meet the needs of individual pupils and there is a separate budget for this.

Question:Is there public funding for Baden Powell & St Peter’s Middle School to increase their places too? If the Building Schools for the Future funding is halted will this affect the plans?

Answer:Building Schools for the Future (BSF) is a different programme for Secondary schools. This project will be funded through the Primary Capital Programme, together with a significant contribution from the school.

Question:Are the plans for Baden Powell & St Peter’s Middle School available?

Answer:We will return to that question on the website.

Question:Children and parents meet at the school for church, visits, school plays etc. Will it still be possible to get all the children and parents together?

Answer:There is a sense of community and in consultation with the children Mrs Jeans would wish to carry on as normal. As the numbers increase some changes may need to be made. Events may be split in two. We do not have the finer details yet. The Church of the Holy Angel has been really helpful in utilising events in the church hall to accommodate more parents because the school is currently not a large school.

Question:How will 360 children be accommodated for in one lunch hour?

Answer:Talks have taken place with the lunchtime support staff. Currently there are two sittings in 1 hour and 10 minutes. Two more tables would easily accommodate the additional children.

Question:Health and Safety – with respect to the building in the car park, there is no safety rail or barrier near the building in the picture on display. Children could walk straight into the traffic reversing in the car park. Are there any plans for staff only parking? What about parents as well?

Answer:The picture on display is to give an indication of what the building would look like. We will need to fine tune the proposals in terms of the separate modular building. There could be a main entrance from the path rather than from the car park. There may be a need for a fence or barrier and it may be that staff only can park there because of the number of spaces being removed.

Question:When do you anticipate the modular unit will be in place? If the emergency provision is for 2009 and places are already applied for what is in place for September?

Answer:The modular unit will be in place ready for occupation in September 2009. We will not be putting Reception children in to the modular building. Parents will want to know where their children will be in September and the intention is to use the modular block for 2 classes on each floor for Year 2 and Year 3. The existing building will accommodate 3 classes for Reception and 2 classes for Year 1. There will be space to cordon off areas to start the building work.

ST read questions 1 – 6 and their answers from those given via the school:

Question 1:How can this consultation not include what will be happening at Baden Powell & St Peter’s? There will be a knock-on effect for them and we need to know what is happening there.

Answer:The Council is proposing to expand Baden Powell & St Peter’s Middle School from 5 FE (150 places) to 6 FE (180 places) with effect from September 2011. We are currently working with the Headteacher and Governors of the school to develop plans for expanding the accommodation of the school buildings. Public consultation will be undertaken later this year.

Question 2:If there are more children in the school does this mean that our children will get less hall/PE time and ICT time?

Answer:At the current time, both the hall and the ICT suite are not always fully utilised. Careful timetabling as more children join the school should ensure that everyone gets their correct amount of time in both PE and in ICT. With the much welcome addition of a studio for music and drama, the hall will be freed up for more gym lessons and whenever possible all children will have outdoor PE lessons. We are also carrying out a complete review of ICT provision and the purchase of more computers and laptops within classrooms will also help. We have been talking to other heads about the future of ICT along with the LA advisor for ICT and the company who currently provides support to our network.

Question 3:Can the infant school proposal go ahead without increasing class numbers?

Answer:Yes. If the Council decided not to proceed with the proposal to expand the school, the school would become a 2FE (60 places) Infant School when the change in the age of transfer takes effect in 2013.

Question 4:Will you be able to keep each year group classes as small clusters together (as they are now) if you expand to 3 classes?

Answer:You can see on the plans that it is proposed to keep each year group in a cluster together.

Question 5:What assurances can you give those of us who are concerned that the quality/standards of the school may suffer as a result of the expansion?

Answer:The staff, governors and the Local Authority will continue to work hard to maintain the standards achieved by the school. We regularly monitor the quality of teaching and learning in the school and there are no plans to change this or the high quality training programme that we give to all the staff.

Question 6:Will plans for the proposal for expansion (option 1) be available at the meeting?

Answer:The plans are available at the meeting and will be on display in the school for the next week.

ST returned to questions from the audience:

Question:Why is there a time delay between the two consultations?

Answer:It had originally been planned to run the two consultations at the same time. However, the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) did not sign off the Council’s plans for the Primary Capital Programme until November 2008. The proposals for expanding the Lilliput CE VC First School could not be taken forward until the Council had received confirmation of the funding. The Council is now working with Baden Powell & St Peter’s Middle School to develop a masterplan for the expansion of the school to accommodate an additional form of entry. It is planned that public consultation on the proposal to expand the school will take place later this year.

Question:Can we increase the number of students to 25 not 30?

Answer:You could set the Published Admission Number lower but the Panel considering any admissions appeals would look at the size of the classrooms and would allow 5 appeals per classroom which would then fill the school up to 3 classes of 30.

Question:Would there be a capacity issue for the school? 240 – 270 instead of 360?

Answer:A block of 4 classrooms will increase capacity for 360 children. If you take the children away you provide classrooms for 270.

Question:This year the intake for 2009 will already have allocated places for all the children coming from the catchment area. If there are an extra 30 children, are you extending the catchment area?

Answer:We do not know who has been allocated a place. The exchange of information day is next Friday (13th February). Until that information is put into the system we cannot say how many applications we have had or allocations.

Question:Is the catchment area changing?

Answer:The Council is currently reviewing catchment areas for all First, Middle and Combined Schools, including Lilliput CE VC First School, Courthill First School and Baden Powell & St Peter’s Middle School. No changes are planned before September 2011 and public consultation will be undertaken on any proposed changes before they are implemented.

Question:The proposal document highlights that this is not Lilliput’s problem. It cannot accommodate the catchment area, looks like a Poole problem.

Answer:It is Poole and Lilliput. There is more growth in the Lilliput area and across most of Poole. Heatherlands First School has also experienced a significant growth in children.

Question:Are the significant changes just for the Lilliput area and that many children need places?

Answer:1. The catchment area review is Poole wide

There is specific growth in this particular area.

Question:If the classes had been here last year would it have alleviated the problem of being oversubscribed and is 30 enough for this area – Lilliput and Lower Parkstone? My feeling is it is not enough.

Answer:It might have reduced some of the pressure on Lilliput and Courthill. The Council was monitoring the situation closely to ensure there were enough school places overall.

Question:All catchments need to be looked at. If you live on the fringes of Lilliput you have no chance because Lilliput is oversubscribed. You don’t have the continuity.

Answer:There are peculiar historical arrangements for the catchment review to address.

Question:Will this go to public scrutiny and how will it be communicated? This meeting wasn’t well communicated.

Answer:Yes it will go to public scrutiny. There are a lot of people here, the meeting was communicated.

Question:Not many residents here, they didn’t know about the meeting.

Answer:We used all the usual forms of communication. Notices were put up in libraries and nurseries. Some was word of mouth. I would like to thank all of you for coming. If you feel that someone who should be here is not, we would give them the opportunity to ask any questions.

Question:This may be helpful for parents fortunate to have children here in the catchment area. How many children could not come here as they live on the fringes and are taking places all over Poole outside the catchment area?

Answer:We commission places for all children in Poole. Choices are for provision close by. This will be consulted on in a catchment review.

Question:The interim report is on Friday. What time will it take from the Council to act on the report? Which entry year?

Answer:2011 is the earliest any changes will be made to the catchment area.

Question:Does it affect the middle school?

Answer:It would have a knock-on effect.

Question:If this is a Poole wide problem why is the Published Admission Number at Branksome Heath Middle School being decreased? It’s not that far away but the pressure will build for Baden Powell & St Peter’s.

Answer:The Published Admission Number of Branksome Heath Middle School would reduce from 150 to 120 if Heatherlands First School becomes a Primary school.

Question:On the presentation where the pink line is – where will you find 105 places in a year?

Answer:Good question. Over the past 5 years we have taken out surplus places by reducing the Published Admission Number of a number of schools. In the first instance we will look to put back in places in these schools. Proposals will be brought forward in due course.

ST read questions 7 – 16 and their answers from those given via the school:

Question 7:Will there be any alterations to the current catchment area before 2013?

Question 8:Where will the new classrooms be situated?

Answer:The modular block of four classrooms will be located in the car park at the front of the school. These will be needed from September 2009 until 2013 when the change in the age of transfer takes effect.

The main school building will be extended and adapted as a 3FE (90 places) Infant School. Although the final designs for this have yet to be drawn up, initial proposals have been agreed with the school.

Question 9:How can the expansion proposed be completed in 6 months?

Question 10: When is the building work expected to start and to finish?

Answer:The modular block of four classrooms will be put in place ready for occupation in September 2009.

The works to the main school building will be phased over the next two to three years to ensure minimum disruption to the school.

Question 11: Where will the new accommodation for extra Reception children be?

Question 12: Will permanent provision for the extra pupils starting in September be in place for their start date or will they be in temporary units?

Answer:You will see from the plans that the youngest children will be kept inside the main building at all times. In September, Reception and Year 1 will be where our current Year 2 and Year 3 are. In September 2010 they will both be housed in their new accommodation where they are this year. In September 2009 Yea 2 and Year 3 will be housed in the new modular classrooms.

Question 13: What will be the level of disruption/noise/loss of playground be?

Question 14:I am concerned about the impact of noise/building works on the children.

Question 15:Will the builders etc be working during school time? What are security arrangements? Will all builders be CRB checked?

Question 16:What implications will the building work have on the pupils?

Answer:The installation of the modular building will require some enabling works during the summer term but the majority of the work will take place during the summer holidays. The phasing of the extensions and remodelling works will be discussed with the school Head and Governors to ensure that any disruption is minimised. We will try to make best use of the school holidays and where work has to be done during term time we will ensure that contractor’s access is limited to designated areas and that these will be separated from areas in use by the school children by secure hoardings. We will aim to programme particularly noisy activities during holidays or outside the school day ie after 3.30 pm as far as possible.