FEDERATION NEWSLETTER
July 2011
Functional Merger to Formal Merger: Progress check
The switch to the “Urban Campus” reorganisation of LowerSchool-UpperSchoolstarts from September. To remind & reassure everyone: single sex teaching at Key Stage 3 in all subjects, Years 7-9, based at the Chatham House site; single sex teaching at Key Stage 4, Years 10-11, based at the Clarendon House site – except for GCSE option subjects in Year 10 which will be mixed. Years10 & 11 will be brought to the Chatham site for their Games lessons, GCSE music will also be based at Chatham House. For all students in Years 7-11, tutor groups in the combined “twinned” Houses will be single-sex. To reduce the number of inter-site movements for staff and CCVI students, the pattern of the school day has been altered to 6 x 50 minute periods, still with a long morning and short afternoon, with no change to the school open/end of school day times. In some subjects, notably for practical subjects & all CCVI lessons, these will be double lesson slots; most Key Stage 3 lessons will be singles.
On behalf of ministers at DfE, the YPLA have accepted the rationale for merger & indicated they will consider a business case from the Federation which opens a formal process, based on a target date of Sept 2014 for the start of full formal legal merger. The significance of this date is that is the point when the last cohort of students whose parents originally chose Chatham or Clarendon when they were completely separate schools, will have left Year 11 and moved on to a mixed Sixth Form, here or elsewhere.
BSF: definitely gone. What next?
Although we had received several indications to the contrary, a statement from the Secretary of State this week (19th July) confirmed that the Wave 4 BSF schemes, which had been subject to judicial review, will not be restarted after all. Although KCC will be reimbursed for the costs of the cancellation, the Thanet & Gravesham schools which had been promised rebuild and refurbishment projects will not now get that major investment. All the time and effort invested in planning those major improvements to the schools was wasted - this is bitterly disappointing news. The minister’s statement talks about the possibility that some of the schools which missed out could be eligible for a new Priority School Building Programme (PSBP), although this will only help 100-300 schools across the entire country over the next 4 years so the demand will certainly be greater than the available capital. This will be a competitive process – with bids required by mid-October and a decision by December. However the greatest difficulty with PSPB is that is a private-finance approach – essentially the school would have to rent the new buildings over a 27 year period from a private company which controls cleaning, caretaking, maintenance & lettings through a commercial service for profit (rather than the Academy itself). We have calculated that even if PSPB provided just a new Sports Hall, and Science, Technology & Maths Block, the annual cost to the school would be around £250,000! There is also a question as to whether schools with a high percentage of listed buildings such as the Federation would even be eligible for the private finance solution.
So at this stage we are considering another approach based on maximising our own resources, but while our annual budget can continue to finance modest refurbishment of the existing buildings, it won’t be enough to pay for the big projects. As an Academy we do, however, own assets which are surplus to our operational needs: chiefly the Newington Playing Field, and “The Red House”. If these can be capitalised, perhaps in a joint venture partnership with a developer (in the same way that the Cavendish Centre was procured), then that might give us the means to provide our students with the specialist facilities they deserve.
Where does that leave us in the meantime? Making the best of all the buildings we have for all students – ie the split-site Urban Campus. Whatever happens with the big projects, we can and will continue to invest part of our Academy budget in improving our historic buildings. On balance Chatham House is in the greatest need of this refurbishment, of the two partner schools its buildings are in the worst condition. Much has been done in the last two years (see article below) and now that BSF-limbo has finally been resolved we will extend that rolling programme of improvement and redecoration next year.
The Learning Environment: Summer 2011 building works
A total of £100,000 has been invested in various upgrades to the ICT infrastructure, including new computers for the two Redman Wing ICT suites, RO5 and RO10, chiefly to support teaching & learning in Maths and Science. A successful claim to the Academies Repair Fund, £65,000, will pay for a new fire-alarm system at Clarendon. A total of £50,000 is paying for classroom & office reorganisations, including new bases for the Student Support (SEN) teams, improvements to the Chatham staff work room, converting the Exec Heads old office to a Sixth Form classroom, converting the Chatham Careers annexe to a classroom, relocating offices for the new Heads of House on both sites, centralising the Reprographics service, centralising the Finance & Personnel team. A total of £350,000 is paying for assorted building projects needed to make the Urban Campus work:- converting R011 to be a new Food Tech room at Chatham House, converting the Pavilion to provide extra girls & boys changing facilities, upgrading boys & girls toilets at both Chatham and Clarendon, centralising and improving Music accommodation at Chatham House, clearing all the mobiles from Clarendon and creating a fully-fenced MUGA (Multi Use Games Area), converting two classrooms at Clarendon to mini-Lecture Theatres.
Looking a little further ahead, we are in discussions with Ramsgate Town Library about shared use of facilities with the UpperSchool. If successful this will release the present Clarendon Library space to accommodate Art & Design, which in turn frees up more space in the Cavendish Centre for Social Science Faculty teaching subjects and CCVI private study. The “Red House” has been cleared of Social Science teaching as part of a strategy to capitalise the building and the grounds, relocate Technology within the Clarendon Science Block and generate money to continue the refurbishment programme in 2012.
Uniform Update
The new CCGSAcademy uniform. All students currently in Years 7-10 weremeasured up & given their voucher for the free uniform items earlier in the summer term. All these items are now in stock at The Schoolwear Centre, Margate & are available to be collected in exchange for the voucher provided by the Federation. In response to demand at peak times this week which has caused some customers to have to wait in/outside the shop, the SWC has apologized for these delays, thanks parents for their patience and forbearance, and has taken steps to speed things up:- (a) they have taken on extra staff to reduce waiting times, (b) the period for collection has been extended into the school holidays, (c) they will operate a 30 day return policy for any time which needs to be changed for a different size, (d) if customers do not want to wait to try the garments on in the shop, they can be taken home and the SWC will cover the postage cost of any item which needs to be exchanged, and (e) if it is more convenient for parents living outside Margate, the SWC can post their uniform pack to their homes free of charge. The School Wear Centre contact details are: 01843 293555) . As a further reminder, the SWC will offer a free re-badging service to anyonewho would like to continue to use an existing recently-purchased blazer as a spare. Alternately, through the PTA/Friends, we are also able to pass on any unwanted former Chatham House/Clarendon Houseuniform items to a charity which provides them for schools in Africa.
At a final cost of £30,000 the total cost of the new uniform switchover is under the limit agreed with governors (and the VAT has already been successfully reclaimed). In addition the Academy will pay for the new CCGS PE/Games kit worn in any competitive/representative match by students selected for one of the school teams. Of course I am aware that implementing the new Academy uniform is a controversial change (indeed any change to the previous status quo seems to spark a degree of controversy), however this is essential in order that (i) the students co-exist equally in their shared learning environment from September, (ii) we present a coherent identity in terms of student recruitment, and (iii) we reinforce a positive public image in the local community. All students in Years 7-11 will be expected to wear the new uniform from the start of next term, all students in the Sixth Form will observe the CCVI dress code (business dress). Naturally it will appear unfamiliar and a little strange at first,however within a few weeks everyone will have become used to the new look and we will have made a good start on developing that shared ethos.
Recycling opportunity. As part of the “Urban Campus” reshuffle into Lower & UpperSchool sites, we gathered a sizeable quantity of old books, equipment & other resources which we no longer need. Rather than put it all into skips for recycling, much of this has been salvaged to send to schools in East Africa, via a link set up with Simon Langton Boys School in Canterbury.
The House System
After extensive consultation amongst the students about the shape of a new integrated Federal (4) House system for September, we finally reached a conclusion which has the support of a majority. Students were invited to give their own suggestions, and discussions of possible names included input from a local historian. The resultant views were narrowed-down to contrasting options and put to an electronic vote. A majority of students in Years 7-12 did respond, and of these a clear majority, 59%, favoured continuing and “twinning” the existing boys & girls Houses, keeping the familiar (senior House) names. The other options which failed to attract enough support were:-“Back to the Future”: reviving some of the old boys & girls House names (Colemans, Thorntons, Bronte, Austen)backed by36.3%; “Fresh Start, Local Roots”: historic names associated with Ramsgate (Townley, Montefiore, Garrow, Merrymen)which attracted only 12.4%.
So from September 2011 the integrated House system will be as follows:
LOWERSCHOOL (Years 7, 8 & 9) Chatham House Site
Vice Principal & Head of School = Dr P Birchley
Senior Tutor = Mrs J Bouaziz
Knight-Heath House / Rothschild-Pearce HouseHouse colour =Blue / House colour = Silver
Head of House = Mrs K Johnson / Head of House = Mrs J Tunmore
2 x Y7 groups (1 boys group, 1 girls group) / 2 x Y7 groups (1 boys, 1 girls group)
2 x Y8 groups (1 boys group, 1 girls group) / 2 x Y8 groups (1 boys, 1 girls group)
2 x Y9 groups (1 boys group, 1 girls group) / 2 x Y9 groups (1 boys, 1 girls group)
Mann-Somerville House / Thomas-Sharman House
House colour =Gold / House colour = Red
Head of House = Mr W Ferguson / Head of House = Miss V Moody
2 x Y7 groups (1 boys group, 1 girls group) / 2 x Y7 groups (1 boys, 1 girls group)
2 x Y8 groups (1 boys group, 1 girls group) / 2 x Y8 groups (1 boys, 1 girls group)
2 x Y9 groups (1 boys group, 1 girls group) / 2 x Y9 groups (1 boys, 1 girls group)
UPPERSCHOOL (Years 10 & 11) Clarendon House Site
Vice Principal & Head of School = Mrs D Liddicoat
Senior Tutor = Mr P Hughes
Knight-Heath House / Rothschild-Pearce HouseHouse colour =Blue / House colour = Silver
Head of House = Mr A Haywood / Head of House = Mrs K Rockall
2 x Y10 groups (1 boys group, 1 girls group) / 2 x Y10 groups (1 boys, 1 girls group)
2 x Y11 groups (1 boys group, 1 girls group) / 2 x Y11 groups (1 boys, 1 girls group)
Mann-Somerville House / Thomas-Sharman House
House colour =Gold / House colour = Red
Head of House = Mrs R Hood / Head of House = Mr A Harris
2 x Y10 groups (1 boys group, 1 girls group) / 2 x Y10 groups (1 boys, 1 girls group)
2 x Y11 groups (1 boys group, 1 girls group) / 2 x Y11 groups (1 boys, 1 girls group)
CCVI (Years 12 & 13) Cavendish Centre
Vice Principal & Head of CCVI = Mr M Moody
Senior Tutor & Asst Head of CCVI = Mr C Lowis
Asst Head of CCVI + Mrs S Andrews
Years12 13 students will be in (approx 20) mixed tutor groups, linked to the main school as members of one of the four twinned Houses. Many Sixth Formers will also be working with younger students in various roles of responsibility: Senior Students & Prefects, House officers, learning mentors, and so on.
Budget news
We finally received details of the 2011-12 budget last month and by pooling the two separate Academy budgets, operating them as one, the Federation is in a secure position for the year ahead. Good news on student numbers at Y7 and recruitment into the CCVI certainly helps, as does the ‘buffer’ of Academy status funding. This has enabled us to releasesufficient resources to invest in “Urban Campus”building works for Sept 2011 (£500,000), and retain a contingency which meets Academy rules on the maximum which can be carried-forward. Almost uniquely amongst Thanet secondary providers we have not had to implement redundancies, through careful management of staff turn-over, not replacing all the teachers who leave. This summer 18 teaching staff will depart, some moving on to promotion elsewhere, others retiring from the profession, with 9 new teaching staff joining us from September (see article on Staffing News below).
We are still, however, very concerned about the future of Sixth Funding. Regular readers of the Federation newsletter will recall the basic position – previously we received approx £4,900 per Sixth Form learner, the government has signalled that by 2014 this funding will be reduced to the level of FE Colleges (currently around £3,000 per learner) – for us a drop of around £900,000 in our Sixth Form budget. At the moment this reduction is being phased in smaller annual cuts, but as yet there is no word about what happens from 2013, when a very sharp reduction of per learner funding is due to happen. That looming cut is what effectively undermined our capacity to replace A-Levels with the (more expensive) IB & IBCC in 2012, and why we have put the plan on hold, until the situation is clarified. If the SF funding cut were to be reversed or significantly ameliorated, we can and will look at the IB again. Meantime we are deliberately pressing ahead with the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) phasing it inthrough Key Stage 3 up to GCSE’s by summer 2015;and continuing work on the IBCC pilot vocational pathway at Sixth Form level.
Another financial change for Sixth Formers is the end of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA), which is being phased out from this September. It is being replaced, but only for some students, with a new Post-16 Bursary, targeted at support for Looked After Children (LAC’s)., and students whose families are in receipt of certain benefits. In conjunction with the other schools in Thanet which have sixth form students, we are developing a consistent policy, to be applied equally and fairly across our combined catchment areas. Like the new Pupil Premium for children whose families are in receipt of Free School Meals, full details of the Bursary will be on the federation website from September.
Staffing News:
Terms 5 & 6 were dominated by the annual round of interviewing and appointing staff in readiness for the new academic year. This summer we are saying goodbye and good luck to 20 colleagues. Whether they are moving on to a well-deserved promotion elsewhere, a family move out of area, concluding a temporary contract, or taking well-earned retirement we thank them all for their contribution to Chatham & Clarendon. Regardless of their length of service with the Federation schools all have played their part in our success. On behalf of the students, parents, colleagues and governors, I wish them good health, happiness and every success in the future.
Mr M Ball (History), Mr A Barton (History), Miss C Bolder (LSA, English), Mr C Burson-Thomas (Science), Mr D Fasham (Chatham site caretaking team), Mr A Ferdinando (Science), Mrs A Harris (English), Mrs S Hatton-Browne (Languages), Mr N Hughes (Languages), Miss B King (English), Miss M Lewis (Drama), Mr J Madden (Languages), Mr S Manley (Clarendon ICT Technician), Mr R Merivale (Geography),Mrs I McIntosh (Music), Mr M Morley (Languages), Ms J Pantony (Art), Mr R Walker (ICT), Mr C Wilson (Science), Mrs T Wood (Science)
Staff joining the school from September:-
Mrs C Bell (Science Tech cover), Ms L Chadwick (TA), Miss S Cracknell (Cover Assistant), Mr C Crowther (Network Manager), Miss K Escombe-Gedge (Lunchtime Supervisor), Miss S Gonzales (Languages), Ms D Goodsell (Lunchtime Supervisor), Miss K Greig (Advanced Skills Teacher, History), Ms W Harland (Food Technology tech), Mr A Hudson (Cover Assistant), Mr R Lewthwaite (Science), Mr D McQuade (English), Miss C O’Kelly (i/c KS3 French), Miss N Pleasant (Health & Social Care), Mr M Sandman (ICT), Ms D Slevin (TA), Miss O Titchener (i/c Spanish),