2009/10 scheme
NORTH SOMERSET COUNCIL
DECISION OF COUNCILLOR JEREMY BLATCHFORD
THE EXECUTIVE MEMBER FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG
PEOPLE’S SERVICES with advice from the
INTERIM DIRECTOR OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S SERVICES
DECISION NO: CS62
SUBJECT: permission to publish a public notice to expand trinity anglican methodist prIMARY SCHOOL, portishead from up to a 210 to up to a 420-place primary school
DECISION:
That the Executive Member for Children & Young People’s Services supports the recommendations of the CYPS Policy and Scrutiny Panel and the North Somerset Admissions Forum and:
· authorises the publication of a Public Notice to expand Trinity Anglican Methodist Primary School in Portishead from a 210 to a 420-place primary school. The expansion should take effect from 1 September 2011
1. Summary of Report
1.1 On 17 December 2009 the Executive Member for Children & Young People’s Services authorised the commencement of Stage 1 of a statutory process to seek the views of the public to an expansion of Trinity Anglican Methodist Primary School. The proposal recommended that the school is enlarged from a 210-place to a 420-place primary school by 1 September 2011. This report provides a summary of the consultation responses and seeks permission to move to the next stage in the process and publish a Public Notice.
1.2 The general outcome of the consultations to date in relation to the expansion of Trinity Anglican Methodist Primary School shows that the majority of consultees (84%) are supportive of the expansion of the school.
2. POLICY
2.1 Local Authorities are under a statutory duty to ensure that there are sufficient school places in their area, promote high standards, ensure fair access to educational opportunity and promote the fulfilment of every child’s educational potential. They must also ensure that there are sufficient schools in their area and promote diversity and increase parental choice.
3. Details
3.1 The Council has been investigating solutions for the supply of additional school places within Portishead. Council officers have been working with the Diocese of Bath & Wells, and more recently with the Gordano Valley Methodist Circuit and the Methodist Connexion, and with the Headteacher and Governors of Trinity Anglican Methodist Primary School to establish a solution to the lack of school places in the town. A consultation to consider a proposal to expand Trinity Anglican Methodist Primary School from a 210 to a 420-place school by 1 September 2011 was started on 18 January 2010 and ended on 8 March 2010. The consultation took the form of 350 questionnaires sent to stakeholders of the schools i.e. families of the school and other schools affected by the change, staff of the school and other schools affected by the change, local residents, trade unions, the local MP, the Town Council, local Councillors, Early Years providers, Diocesan Bodies and other members of the general public. It was also available on the Council’s website.
3.2 In addition to the questionnaires, two public meetings were held at the school in the afternoon and evening of 11 February 2010. These meetings were attended by 5 and 8 parents and supporters of the school respectively. The community had full opportunities to make its views clear during the consultation process.
3.3 The closing date for the submission of responses was 8 March 2010. 41 paper responses and 1 electronic response were received (with 2 paper responders stating ‘Yes and No’ thus making 44 responses in total). 7 (15.91%) were against the expansion, 37 (84.09%) were in favour and 0 (0%) responses expressed no clear opinion. Four comments were also recorded at the public meetings, two of which were in relation to the needs of the expanded school to have satisfactory school travel plans, one requesting that the school continues with its positive community/family feel and the last posing the question of why the Council closed St Barnabas C of E Primary School if it knew that more school places were to be needed in the future. With the exception of one attendee, all other members of the public were supportive of the change. Supporters include Portishead Town Council and the Diocese of Bath & Wells.
3.4 Those in favour of the expansion have mentioned the need for more places and a desire for children to walk to school as the main reasons for support. Some have expressed concerns about the management of change for the school (pupils, staff and budgets during the building works) whilst others want the change to be fully in place for September 2010. A number of consultees have asked that the Governing Body considers the needs of local pupils when setting their admission arrangements. A phasing of the increase in pupil population at Trinity Anglican Methodist Primary School has also been suggested so as to not adversely impact on the numbers of pupils attending other local schools.
Those against the change have expressed concerns over the impact the expansion might have upon neighbouring schools and the possible increase in car usage and traffic within the local community. Some would not want to lose the more intimate feel of a smaller school. Others were saddened that St Barnabas C of E Primary School closed and feel that the increase in pupil population within the Village Quarter should have been better foreseen.
3.5 Members of the School Council at Trinity Anglican Methodist Primary School met with a Council Officer on 28 January 2010. Their responses to questions raised were as follows:
What do you like about your school?
· The teachers and helpers are very friendly
· The hall
· The classrooms are well decorated
· You can always get help
· You have lots of friends
· The fish and chickens
· The playgrounds are nice and big
· More people to make friends with
· Lunch groups
· The ‘buddy’ system
· The play equipment
What would you like to change?
· To be allowed more time on the field and the MUGA
· To have separate KS1 & KS2 sports days
· More toilets
· Separate girls and boys toilets with floor to ceiling walls
· Need changing rooms
· Need more computers
Do you have any comments/questions on the proposed changes?
· What will the finished building look like?
· We like a small school
· We like the idea of a bigger school so that we can have more friends
· We want our brothers/sisters to be able to come to the school
· A bigger school would make you better prepared for secondary school
· Where will the new buildings go?
· Will there be diggers on site?
· Will we have less room to play?
· There would be more room for more people
3.6 The latest projections are shown at appendix 1. Whilst there are a number of aspects in pupil projection methodology that are generally harder to quantify such as a historic shortage of places, a possible reduction of children being schooled privately and the effects of demographic changes, the latest projections show that by 2011 there will be a deficit of pupil places across Portishead as a whole. Currently the demand for Reception, Year 1, Year 2 and Year 6 places exceeds the numbers of places available in the town.
3.7 Trinity Anglican Methodist Primary School was built with the infrastructure of a 420-place primary school but with fewer classrooms to accommodate up to 210 pupils only. This means that the hall, staff room, grounds, parking and general circulation areas were designed to accommodate up to 420 pupils. Land at the school has been ‘reserved’ so that it is available to enable the expansion of the school to be progressed. It was always intended that when demand for school places in Portishead increased, Trinity Anglican Methodist Primary School would be expanded to meet new parental needs.
3.8 As at 24 March 2010 the school had 7 classes and 185 pupils on roll. It is anticipated that by the end of the 2009/10 school year, the school will be full in most of its current classes and demand for places will continue to be well above the number of places available.
3.9 To allow the delivery of capital works to primary schools the Council has engaged the use of the SCAPE Framework Agreement, which is for public sector use for the delivery of design and construction projects. The Framework Contractor is Willmott Dixon. In January 2010 Stride Treglown were appointed as the architects for the extension to Trinity Anglican Methodist Primary School.
3.10 The CYPS Policy & Scrutiny Panel School Organisation Working Group met on 25 February 2010. Although the consultation was still ongoing, members reviewed the responses received to date and, following a period of debate, agreed unanimously to recommend that the CYPS Policy & Scrutiny Panel requests that the Executive Member for Children & Young People’s Services :
· grants permission to publish a Public Notice to expand Trinity Anglican Methodist Primary School from a 210 to a 420-place primary school on 1 September 2011
3.11 The CYPS Policy & Scrutiny Panel met on 31 March 2010. They recommended that:
· the Executive Member for Children & Young People’s Services grants permission to publish a Public Notice to expand Trinity Anglican Methodist Primary School from a 210 to a 420-place primary school on 1 September 2011
3.12 The North Somerset Admissions Forum met on 9 March 2010 and considered the responses to the consultation. The Forum also recommended that the Executive Member for Children & Young People’s Services:
· grants permission to publish statutory proposals to expand Trinity Anglican Methodist Primary School from a 210 to a 420-place primary school on 1 September 2011
Consultation
4.1 Public consultations were undertaken between 18 January 2010 and 8 March 2010. The outcomes of these consultations are given in paragraphs 3.1 – 3.5 above.
Other Alternatives Considered:
· Local Authorities are required to promote diversity and choice. If additional new school places are to be provided, one option available could be to consider additional primary place capacity through extending the age range of the local secondary school.
· To make no changes to the capacity of Trinity Anglican Methodist Primary School in the hope that pupil demand within the Village Quarter can be met either by the other Portishead schools or by schools in other parts of the district within their current school capacities.
· To expand St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Portishead from its current capacity of 210 pupils up to a capacity of either 315 or 420 pupils. It is considered at this time that there are sufficient Catholic places to meet the needs of the Catholic community in and around Portishead.
· Portishead Primary, St Peter’s C of E Primary and High Down Infant and Junior Schools are on restricted sites and further expansions to these schools are not considered to be viable at the present time.
Financial Implications:
· Substantial works will be needed as part of any school expansion project. Whilst detailed investigations are currently taking place, early indications are that the final costs to expand the school are likely to be in the region of £1.5 m. Funds for this would need to be found from additional Basic Need (£800k), Basic Need, Prudential Borrowing and Capital Receipts
.
· Trinity Anglican Methodist Primary School had 176 pupils on roll at January 2010. This number of pupils would generate estimated formula funding of £676k in the 2010-11 financial year. If the school had 315 pupils on roll, the level of funding in 2011-12 would be approximately £1.0m. If the school had 420 pupils on roll, the level of funding in 2011-12 would be approximately £1.2m. Additional funding would be available to the authority through the Dedicated Schools Grant where this growth relates to additional children in North Somerset. Any growth at Trinity Anglican Methodist Primary School due to a reduction at other North Somerset schools would, in the main, be funded by a consequential reduction in the other schools funding.
· In addition to funding allocated to schools via the formula the CYPS School Modernisation Group (SMG) has allocated additional funding to support the proposed changes at Trinity Anglican Methodist Primary School as follows:
· £15,000 will be allocated in the 2010-11 financial year as a one-off sum to support leadership capacity, so that the school leadership can engage in project planning and delivery
· £5,000 in the 2010-11 financial year and £5,000 in the 2011-12 financial year as general resources to support the change process
This funding has been allocated under the rationale described but can be used to support the change process as the school sees fit. In addition, the school, through the formula budget share, may qualify for pupil growth funding. This will measure the change in pupil levels between January counts. To be eligible, the number of notional classes must increase between these two counts and the increase in numbers must exceed 5%.
In addition to the financial assistance offered, the SMG will aim to support the school through the change process through the work of a Task Group and additional time from the associated officers.
· The DCSF invited bids in August 2009 for additional Basic Need funds to assist authorities experiencing exceptional growth in primary pupil numbers. Funding was to be made available to support the provision of good quality permanent pupil places by September 2011.To qualify for funding authorities had to show that their predicted growth in the numbers of reception aged pupils, from September 2008 to September 2011, was higher than 15% across the district. Authorities with lower overall growth were able to make bids at a sub-authority level but were less likely to qualify for assistance. North Somerset made a sub-authority bid based, in priority order, around Portishead, Long Ashton and Weston-super-Mare for up to £2.5m of assistance. On 30 November 2009 the DCSF announced that 34 authorities had been allocated funds including NorthSomerset. We were granted £1m for changes to be delivered in 2010/11. It has been agreed that £800k of the additional Basic Need funds will be allocated to the project at Trinity Anglican Methodist Primary School.