Proposed Closure of Cossington Community Primary School

Proposed Closure of Cossington Community Primary School

Somerset County Council gives notice that it proposes to close Cossington Community Primary School, Middle Road, Cossington, Bridgwater TA7 8LQ, from the 31st December 2014. You can download a copy of the full proposal documentat: ring 01823 356260 to obtain a copy.

Any person wishing to comment or object to this proposal should do so in writing or by e-mailing Elizabeth Smith, Service Manager - Schools Commissioning, County Hall, Taunton TA14DY () by 5pm on the 25th November 2014.

Statutory Proposal Document

1.Introduction

This document sets out Somerset County Council’s proposalto close Cossington Community Primary School, Middle Road, Cossington, Bridgwater TA7 8QL.

The proposed closure date is the 31st December 2014.Since the 1st September 2014 Cossington School has had no pupils attending the school.

In the event of the school closing the current catchment area for Cossington School will be added to Catcott Community Primary School, Manor Road, Catcott, Bridgwater TA7 9HD.

The walking route between Cossington Village and Catcott School has been assessed and deemed unsuitable for a child to walk accompanied by an adult. Due to the road danger assessment (and in the event of the school closing) from the start of the spring term 2015 all pupils living in the village of Cossington and attending Catcott school will be entitled to free school transport.

2. Objectives and Reason for Closure

As referred to above, since the 1st September 2014 Cossington School has had no pupils attending the school.

Somerset County Council will not close schools based on the number of pupils attending alone. Other reasons such as standards, educational outcomes and pupil welfare are also important reasonswhen assessing the future of a school. However, there is a point where numbers become highly relevant as to whether a school should continue or not.

The Governing Body of Cossington Primary School requested in May 2014 that the Local Authority (LA) consider the future viability of the school. As a Community School only the LA (Somerset County Council) can propose school closures.

Numbers of pupils at Cossington School have been declining since 2004 when 67 pupils were attending the school. In September 2012 there were 47 pupils and at the start of the 2013/14 academic year there were 41. However, in January of this year numbers had fallen to 34 and in July 2014 there were 27 with nine pupils leaving and only one starter enrolled for September.

In May 2014 the acting head teacher announced her intention to leave the school at the end of the summer term.Coupled with the Governors asking the LA to review the future of the school, between May and July all of the parents secured places at other local schools in the area for their children.

3. Statutory Consultation

A period of Statutory Consultation ran from the 1st September to the 13th October. The attached consultation document was sent to statutory consultees as detailed in the Department for Education guidance on School Organisation.

During this period 12 responses were received either in writing or submitted via an online questionnaire. In addition to this 12 people attended a drop in session held at the school on the 17th September between 2.30 and 8pm.

A summary of written responses is attached as Appendix 1 (below). Of the 12 written responses, sixof 12 agreed that the school should close and eight agreed that if the school should close the catchment area should be added to that of Catcott School.

Key themes from the consultation were:

More could have been done (e.g. transport from Bridgwater or increase the size of the Cossington catchment) to keep the school viable and that ‘scare mongering’ caused parents to seek alternative schools.

Car parking at Catcott School was raised several times during the drop in session.

Concern about the size of classes at Catcott School.

What would be the transport entitlement to Catcott School.

4. Pupil Numbers and Admissions

Cossington School is designated as a primary school for boys and girls between the ages four and eleven. As stated above, there have been no pupils attending the school since the 1st September 2014.

5. Displaced Pupils(any pupils affected by the proposed closure)

There are currently no displaced pupils from Cossington School. However, when a school closes, the LAmust identify an alternative school to serve the local community that finds itself without a local school.

The LA considers that the best option is for the existing catchment area ofCossington School be added to the catchment area of Catcott School. This maintains the partnership links with Crispin Academy.

6. Rural Primary Schools

Cossington Primary School is designated a Rural School by the Department for Education. As such the LA is required to consider the following factors:

6.1The impact of the closure on the local community.In recent years the number of local pupils attending Cossington has fallen. In October 2013 only six out of a possible 30 primary aged children who lived in the village attended the school(at that time 84% of the pupils on roll lived outside of the village). The majority of primary aged pupils living in Cossington Village have attended Catcott School. The school has never offered extended services and community events are always held at the Village Hall. In respect of the school as an employer at the end of the summer term 2014 only two of the 11 staff employed at Cossington lived in the village.

Where the school will be missed is by the local traveller community who regard the school as one being sympathetic to their culture and ethos.The White Gate Caravan Site, whilst on the edge of the Cossington catchment area sits within the catchment area of Woolavington Primary School. Somerset County Council’s Traveller Education Service has indicated that the loss of Cossington School may provide them with greater challenge in placing Traveller children in other local schools because some year groups are full. However the existence of aTraveller site on the edge of a village is not reason alone to keep a school open. In the event of Cossington school closing, LAofficers will work with Traveller Education to ensure that all pupils arriving at the site are placed at neighbouring schools.

6.2Likely Cost of Transport to Catcott School.The walking route between Cossington Village and Catcott School has been assessed and deemed unsuitable for a child to walk accompanied by an adult. The estimated cost of transport provision is £21,000 per academic year.Due to the assessment, from the start of the spring term 2015 all pupils living in the village of Cossington and attending Catcott school will be entitled to free school transport.

6.3Increase in motor vehicles and likely effects.Assuming entitlement to transport is taken up then a decrease in the amount of motor vehicles travelling between Cossington and Catcott can be assumed. This will also go some way to relieving the parking congestion outside Catcott School that was raised during the consultation period.

6.4Alternatives to Closure. The Governing Body explored Federation with other schools on a number of occasions over the past 5 years but no firm proposal materialised. There was a loose collaboration with Woolavington Primary School in respect of sporting opportunities for pupils and forest school. However Collaborative Academies Trust, who sponsor Woolavington, have understandably questioned the viability of such a small school in respect of academy sponsorship.

7.How to make a comment or objection

A final decision on this proposal will be taken by the Lead Cabinet Member for Children and Families on the 17th December 2014.

Appendix 1

Cossington Consultation Responses

Q1: Do you agree that Cossington Primary School should close?

Q2: Do you agree that if Cossington Primary School should close, the catchment area should be included within that of Catcott Primary School?

No. / Q1 / Q2 / Comments / LA Response
1 / Yes / Yes
2 / Yes / Yes
3 / Yes / Yes / Cossington Parish Council consider that the School has been an important feature of the village over 140 years and that it was a pity that more could not have been done to keep it operationally viable. Members hope that, in determining the future use of the site and its buildings, consideration would be given to something that would provide a similarly important role and focal point befitting the village's rural 'Other Sustainable Settlement' status. / The Governing Body explored Federation with other schools on a number of occasions over the past 5 years but no firm proposal materialised. There was a loose collaboration with Woolavington Primary School in respect of sporting opportunities for pupils and forest school. However Collaborative Academies Trust, who sponsor Woolavington, have understandably questioned the viability of such a small school in respect of academy sponsorship.
No decision has yet been taken with regard to future use of the building, but these comments have been noted.
4 / No / No / Over the last 10 years the number of pupils attending Catcott has risen and reduced the standard of Catcott. Therefore increase the catchment area of Cossington to release the pressure on Catcott. Directly opposite Cossington School there is a new housing estate that will in time increase numbers for Cossington. / Catcott School was judged as Good by OfSTED in November 2013.
Numbers on roll at Catcott are also forecast to fall in the next five years.
By the Local Authority rule of thumb the 44 houses that have recently been built in the village could generate approximately 9 primary aged children. In recent years the majority of primary aged pupils living in Cossington Village have attended Cattcot School
5 / No / No / How can this be a fair consultation as the school is now closed, this is all just an exercise to keep the government happy. The school has been closed via the back door, the parents removed their children because of the scare mongering and there has been a total lack of information from Mr Axten Higgs the current head of Cossington and Catcott schools. My son now has 40 children in his class and has to teacher share, this is a situation we will monitor carefully. Vice chair Catcott PC. / The Department of Education recognised that school closure is a sensitive issue and has therefore retained the five stage statutory process for closing a school. Regardless of whether pupils are on roll or not the LA has to follow a set process. Cossington School reached a tipping point towards the end of the summer term 2014 and the statutory processes now need to catch up.
Catcott school admitted 5 pupils from Cossington, all in Key stage 1 (Years Reception, 1 and 2). There is a large year 5 cohort at the school and the pressure is being eased here by employing the KS2 teacher from Cossington to team teach.
6 / No / Yes / I feel that the communication from the governors about the school potentially having to close should have come a lot sooner. Other options such as transport should have been considered and offered out to children from Bridgwater to attend and boost numbers and alleviate the strain on some of those schools that are at maximum capacity. Cossington School staff were a friendly committed and passionate team dedicated to developing the children that attended both socially and academically. / The Governing Body did try to market the school. However back in October 2013 only 6 out of a possible 30 primary aged children who lived in the village attended the school.
Transporting pupils from Bridgwater to Cossington on a daily basis was not consider as a) parents were not expressing a preference to go there and b) it would have put additional strain on the school transport budget.
7 / Yes / Yes
8 / No / Yes / If Cossington School has to close then the children have to have somewhere to go to school.
9 / Yes / Yes / Whilst I have been aware of the reducing numbers at Cossington School for some time, it makes me very sad to hear of another village school closing. As I am sure you will agree a village school is the heart of village life and helps to ensure a positive community exists for local people. As Headteacher of Ashcott School, it makes clear sense to me that Catcott should take up the catchment area from Cossington. However, as our school has also acquired a few children from Cossington it would seem only fair that the resources left unused in the school are not all passed on to Catcott School but that other local schools are given the opportunity to share the resources from the school before the building is used for another purpose. It would also make sense to me that as catchment areas are realigned, I would like to propose that the village of Shapwick should be moved into the Ashcott catchment area due to its closer proximity to Ashcott School. At present we have on roll 9 children who live in Shapwick Village and we still have many spaces available at Ashcott School to increase our capacity, particularly in the Early Years and Key Stage 1. This would seem a more sensible option rather than trying to increase capacity at Catcott, where as I understand it, many classes are already quite large in number. / In the event of Cossington School closing the resources at the school will be offered to local schools.
Catchment areas in rural areas are generally based on historic Parish boundaries. As numbers at both Ashcott and Catcott are forecast to fall there is no need to review the catchment areas at this time.
10 / No / No / Traveller Education Services: Cossington School has always been a popular choice for the families that live both permanently and temporarily on the Traveller site nearby, Vardoes. Due to the unknown number of children coming to live temporarily at Vardoes, the numbers of children that attended Cossington School varies throughout the year. The winter months tend to be more busy, but often families move to where work is available. This past year was an exceptionally quiet year on the site, and many families moved on with not many arriving which meant less Traveller pupils were on roll at Cossington School.
A spokesperson of the Gypsy Community told the Traveller Education Service that they have for generations used Cossington as a School for their children. It is a trusted School and seemed old fashioned and traditional, which is what we liked. We all are going to miss the School as it has been used for generations by us. It is a small School and the children were always happy there because they could easily make friends, even if they attended for a short time. The families here are worried as we would only ever use Woolavington School and not Catcott and Woolavington School is now very full. This may affect families wanting to live here as they won't come if there is no School for the children. Also the School was always understanding to our way of life and our Culture. We often would travel away to work and come back to the School and they were always understanding and helpful. They treated us as an equal, which is not what all schools do and this is what we loved. We are all very, very sad about it may be closing. We always like our children to be in School together but we are really worried they won't get a place at Woolavington which is our only choice as we know that School and it is close to us. / Both the Governing Body and the Local Authority are aware that the school will be missed is by the local traveller community who regard the school as one being sympathetic to their culture and ethos. The White Gate Caravan Site, whilst on the edge of the Cossington catchment area sits within the catchment area of Woolavington Primary School. Somerset County Council’s Traveller Education Service has indicated that the loss of Cossington School may provide them with greater challenge in placing Traveller children in other local schools because some year groups are full. However the existence of a Traveller site on the edge of a village is not reason alone to keep a school open. In the event of Cossington school closing, Local Authority officers will work with Traveller Education to ensure that all pupils arriving at the site are placed at neighbouring schools.
11 / Yes / Yes / Obviously the Local Authority will need to carry out a travel to school survey in order to establish whether a bus can be provided for the children of Cossington to attend Catcott Primary School. If a 'split' village can in any way be avoided then that would be best for the community as a whole. Even if parents were offered the option of making a contribution to travel costs (if excluded from free transportation), I am sure this option would be positively received. / The walking route between Cossington Village and Catcott School has been assessed as unsuitable for a child to walk accompanied by an adult. Due to this assessment, from the start of the spring term 2015 all pupils living in the village of Cossington and attending Catcott School will be entitled to free school transport.
This may also alleviate the parking concerns at Catcott school that were raise during the drop in session held on the 17 September 2014.