Consultation on the proposal to close WyvernCommunitySecondary School , Marchfields Way, Weston-super-Mare, BS23 3QP on 30th April, 2011.

In April 2010 the Council’s Executive Committee approved the closure of WyvernCommunitySchool. This was due to happen on 31 August 2010. This was to enable the establishment of the new HansPriceAcademy to take place on the same site utilising the same buildings immediately on 1September 2010. The decision was made subject to certain conditions being met.

In early July 2010 the Cabot Learning Federation (CLF) Board concluded that the conditions for the opening of the academy had changed and that the opening date should be postponed. As a result the Public Notice, published as part of the statutory consultation process followed in the 2009/10 school year, expired without enactment.

Much work has been undertaken by the Cabot Learning Federation, the Governors of Wyvern Community School and the Local Authority (LA) and as a result of this all partners have agreed that the statutory process to form an Academy should be re-started. It is therefore necessary that the Council undertakes continued consultations on the closure of WyvernCommunitySchool on 30thApril 2011 to enable HansPriceAcademyto open on the WyvernCommunitySchool site on 1st May 2011.

This consultation document forms part of the statutory process started in the 2009/10 school year and views are again sought on the proposals.

The closing date for responses is 4.00pm on 22nd November 2010

You can also respond to the proposals via the Council’s on line consultation facility at

We will be holding another public information sharing event on16th November at 7.00pm at WyvernCommunitySecondary Schooland we do hope that you will take the opportunity to find out more by attending this event.

Since the proposals to establish the HansPriceAcademy were postponed and not abandoned, all previous consultations and comments will be taken into account as part of this second consultation.

Copies of the previous consultation documentation and results can be found on the on-line consultation facility as shown above.

Obviously there will be many questions to answer as part of this second consultation:

Why is North Somerset considering closing the school?

This proposal is linked to the formation of the HansPriceAcademyin Weston Super Mare, North Somerset on 1 May 2011. The Academy will, subject to approval, replace WyvernCommunitySecondary Schoolas an 11-16 non selective school with designated SportsSpecialistCollege status. Legally North Somerset Council has to close WyvernCommunitySecondary School before the Academy can be established.

Why is North Somerset Council supporting the establishment of an Academy on the Wyvern site ?

The new Academy will have at its core the raising of educational outcomes for the children and young people from Weston Super Mare who are either currently attending the school or will join the Academy after it opens. The Academy sponsor is the Cabot Learning Federation (CLF), in partnership with North Somerset Local Authority, and both would work with partners and utilise existing networks to provide for 11 – 16 and Post 16 learning to take place in the Academy within an 11-16 structure.

Subject to approval the Academy will open in 1 May 2011 in existing buildings. It is intended that the school will be remodelled and expanded with capital completion no earlier than 2013. Currently the school can admit up to 200 pupils per year group (1000 overall). The Academy will provide for 1200 students aged 11-16, admitting from September 2011 and each year thereafter up to 240 Year 7 pupils. Admissions to other year groups in excess of the current 200 pupils will be considered if possible. Whilst the Academy would be designated as a 11-16 establishment, the current school works within a collaborative 14-19 framework which provides for some aspects of Post 16 learning on the school site delivered by Weston College.

The Academy sponsor regards the raising of aspirations around improved teaching and learning as critical to the success of the project. In addition, the CLF is committed to working closely with other schools in Weston super Mare, including primary, secondary and special schools. It also hopes to play a part in the North Somerset Local Authority strategy for sharing effective practice to raise standards across the authority. The proposed new WyvernAcademy would join the Cabot Learning Federation of schools and would become the fourth Academy in the group. The Federation became a single legal entity in September 2009 and is sponsored by Rolls Royce and the University of the West of England. It is however, the Cabot Learning Federation that is the sponsor of the project.

North Somerset Council has a duty to promote diversity and choice. The creation of an Academy in Weston super Mare is intended to increase the diversity of educational provision available for local pupils. As the Academy will be initially sited in the same buildings on the same site of the closing WyvernCommunitySecondary School, the negative impact of the change on the local community we hope will be negligible.

Why wasn’t an Academy formed on 1st September 2010 as promised?

The decision to form HansPriceAcademy must be a joint decision between the Local Authority, the CLF and the Department for Education (DfE). All partners needto be certain that the move to academy status takes place at the right time to the secure the best interests of the students and staff of the school.

The Cabot Learning Federation (CLF) has been working with North Somerset Council since the summer of 2009 with the aim of opening North Somerset’s first Academy in Weston super Mare. As a result of working closely with the staff and governors at WyvernCommunitySchool and officers of the local authority the CLF had been in a position to launch HansPriceAcademy in September 2010. Much of the preparatory work is complete but during the summer term of 2010 several factors arose that could not have been planned for. These became issues that needed to be resolved before the Cabot Learning Federation trustees could sign afunding agreement with the Department for Education (DfE). In summary the issues that led to the delay in the project were:

  • The final budget for the Academy was still unconfirmed at the time the funding agreement needed to be signed. The funding agreement would have created the Academy as a legal entity. Going ahead without confirmation of the total budget would have been a huge risk and one the CLF Board could not take at that time
  • A capital grant had been earmarked for HansPriceAcademy. The CLF and the Local Authority were in the process of consulting with a range of groups about the design of the new school building. Once the new government were in power, they brought to a halt all building projects in new Academies that were not at an advanced stage of contractual obligation. HansPriceAcademy was in this category and the trustees, Local Authority and sponsors of the Cabot Learning Federation felt it was in the interests of the project to wait until the funding issue for new school buildings was clearer.
  • It became clear in June following a survey of the site by the local authority, that there were likely to be a number of repairs and refurbishments required to maintain the school buildings and grounds. This was to be expected given the age of the building but in the absence of no guarantee about the new building it was felt to be prudent to consider further the implication of the physical needs of the site and whether this would cause difficulties for the CLF should a large capital grant from the government not be forthcoming. The Cabot Learning Federation is a charitable trust and as a charity has to act in the best interests of the existing members, namely the three existing Academies. In short, any costs that would be beyond the normal budget to be allocated to Hans Price Academy would need to be found from the resources of the other Academies and in order to maintain the integrity of the charities objectives the CLF could not continue until the issues above were resolved or moved into a more secure state.

What has changed to make you want to form an Academy in May 2011?

Over the summer holidays and since the start of this academic year, the CLF has worked with the governors of WyvernCommunitySchool and the Local Authority to resolve the issues above and move them forward to a more secure state. The commitment of the federation, the governors and the Local Authority to the delivery of the Academy for the children and parents of Weston super Mare is reflected in the time spent since the start of July in trying to secure the project. There are two significant developments that have led to the Cabot Learning Federation Board giving its support to open the Academy in 2011.

  • In July Ron Ritchie, the Vice Chair of the Board and a University of the West of England sponsor, spoke with Michael Gove (the Secretary of State for Education) about the situation regarding the capital investment in the Hans Price building. Whilst Mr Gove was unable to give neither a cast iron guarantee nor a figure about any capital investment on the site, he stated his support and commitment to the project. CLF Board members felt confident that they would be awarded a capital sum. Should this not be the case, however, the Board agreed in September 2010 that the Academy project will still go ahead. The setting of the academy budget has now taken place and the CLF are confident that the vision they have for the Academy can be delivered in the existing buildings.
  • The survey of the site commissioned by the CLF showed there were two major areas of likely expense. Broadly this was connected to drainage repairs below the main block and the flat roofs which will start to leak due to their age in the next one to five years. The governors and North Somerset Council have agreed to use the capital grant allocated annually to Wyvern Community School to support the repairs of the first issue and the CLF will take responsibility for the roofs should this be necessary. Consequently, the Board felt able to agree that with the support of the local authority and the likely allocation of a capital grant from central government, this risk was mitigated.

The governors of WyvernCommunitySchool, the LA and Cabot Learning Federation know that the delay in the opening of the academy is frustrating and disappointing for all concerned. All partners feel, however, that the delay was unavoidable. In short, all partners are committed to the establishment of HansPriceAcademy and, subject to the approval of the closure of WyvernCommunitySchool,there will be no going back on this decision from the Cabot Learning Federation.

What Happens Next?

One of the benefits of the delay is that there is more time than a year ago to ensure that staff, students and parents are fully consulted and engaged in the project. The new HansPriceAcademywill open on 1 May 2011rather than September 2011 for a number of reasons.

  • The Academy wants to make a good start as soon as possible
  • The grants to improve the fabric of the existing site will be lost if not claimed before March 2011
  • There is no guarantee that the additional start up grants that are vital to the successful launch of the Academy in the first two years will be available in September 2011.

Year 11 students will be weeks away from their GCSEs when the Academy opens. The CLF and the Local Authoritywill ensure that nothing disrupts them. The CLF English and Maths team are already working in WyvernCommunitySchool with Year 11 students alongside their teachers in order to give every support possible to the students as they move towards their exams next summer. The CLF is also aware that Year 6 students joining in September 2011 will still be in their primary schools. For this reason, the CLF will launch the Academy twice. Once in May 2011 as the federation takes over the running of the school from the local authority and again in September 2011 at the start of the new school year.

This will also be the point when the new uniform will be worn for the first time and the commitment made a year ago to fund this in full is still in place.

The CLF want the new HansPriceAcademy to be an outstanding school for the community. Not just for the current cohort of young people, but those children currently in primary schools, pre-school as well as those who are yet to enter the community.The CLF want to work with parents and other community groups to fulfil ambitious plans for the Academy.The CLF look forward to building on the initial start made last year and delivering the school the CLF and Local Authority want, the community needs and the young people deserve.

Next Steps

We very much hope that you will let us have your views on this matter by completing the short questionnaire at the end of this document. There is also an optional equality questionnaire which we would also like you to complete. This should help us identify whether we are reaching all members of the community.

What happens after this consultation?

All views (consultation and public meeting responses) will be collated and considered by the Council’s Executive Member for Children & Young People’s Services. If he feels the closure of WyvernCommunitySchool and the linked opening of HansPriceAcademy is in the best interests of the pupils and staff of the school he will authorise his officers to publish a public notice recommending the change. This will give you a further opportunity to make your views known.

At the end of the public notice period in the spring 2011 a report will be submitted to the Council’s Executive Committee. It will ask for permission to close WyvernCommunitySecondary Schoolon 30 April 2011 to enable the new HansPriceAcademy to be formed on 1 May 2011.

Proposals to close WyvernCommunitySecondary School , Marchfields Way, Weston-super-Mare, BS23 3QP on 30 April 2011.

Consultation Questionnaire

Based on the information you have been given and heard to date (including previous consultations), do you agree with the proposal to close Wyvern Community Secondary School on 30 April2011 as part of the process to open a new Academy on the same site on 1 May 2011?

Yes No No view

If you wish to expand upon your response and or make any additional comments, please do so below:

Signed………………………………………….Date………………………….

Relationship to school (parent/teacher/pupil etc.)………………………………

Please return this completed questionnaire by 4pm Monday 22nd November to WyvernCommunitySecondary School or to:

School Organisation Manager

North Somerset Council

Children & Young People’s Directorate

Town Hall

Walliscote Grove Road

Weston-super-Mare

BS23 1UJ

Tel: 01275 884727

Fax: 01275 884168

Email:

Monitoring to Ensure Fairness

To help us make sure we are reaching all members of the school community, we would be grateful if you would share the following personal information with us.

North Somerset Council wants to ensure everyone has fair access to its services. We realise that the school community consists of a wide and diverse range of people and we want to ensure that everyone is able to respond to consultations.

In order to achieve this aim we must have accurate information about the people who we consult with. The information we collect will be kept confidential and will only be used to review our services to you. If you would like to know more about the information collected on this form please contact the School Organisation Team on 01275 884727 or email

Thank you for your cooperation.

Ethnic Origin
What is your ethnicity? Tick only one box (see notes overleaf)
White
British
Irish
Other
If other please specify
………………
Prefer not to say / Mixed
White and Black Caribbean
White and Black African
White and Asian
Other Mixed
If other please specify ……………………
Prefer not to say / Asian or Asian British
Indian
Pakistani
Bangladeshi
Other Asian
If other please specify
…………………
Prefer not to say
Black or Black British
Caribbean
African
Other Black
If other please specify
…………………
Prefer not to say / Chinese or other ethnic group
Chinese
Other
If other, please specify
……………………
Prefer not to say / Age
Under 16
16-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
50+
Prefer not tosay
Disability (see notes overleaf)
Do you consider yourself to be a disabled person?
Yes No Prefer not to say
If you are a disabled person, what is the nature of your disability?
Physical Mental Learning Sensory Prefer not to say
Accessibility
If you attended one of the information sharing events, did you experience any difficulties in accessing the building the event was held in?
Yes No Prefer not to say
If Yes, please specify…………………………………………………………………………….
Similarly, did you experience any disability related difficulties during the event?
Yes No Prefer not to say
If Yes, please specify……………………………………………………………………………..

Notes for guidance

Ethnic origin

The form lists a number of ethnic groups. Please put a tick against the one you feel you belong to. If the group you belong to is not listed, tick ‘other’ and provide details in the space on the form.

Disability

Defining a disabled person: A person has a disability if he or she has a physical or mental impairment, which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. People who have had a disability within this definition are protected from discrimination even if they have since recovered.