Public Consultation
on the Merger of
Myle Cross Junior School, Lincoln
and
St Giles Infant School, Lincoln.
Public Meeting to be held on
Monday 6 February 2006
to be held at
St Giles Infant School at 5.00pm
and at
Myle Cross Junior School at 5.00pm
This is a consultation document on the proposed merger of Myle Cross Junior School with St Giles Infant School.
Councillors have asked that parents be consulted about the proposed merger. As a parent, a carer or an interested party, Councillors want to hear your views on the proposal.
The information in this short leaflet describes a possible merger of two schools. Whether it happens or not will depend upon a range of factors. Parents’ views are a key part of the decision-making process.
At the moment, no decision has been made.
You will have an opportunity to attend a public meeting on this proposal. An officer will be there to explain the implications to you. You may also visit the County Council’s website for further information.
The Proposal :
Lincoln St Giles Infant School and Lincoln Myle Cross Junior School to become one primary school
This would require:
1. The formal closure of Lincoln St Giles Infant School, Addison Drive, Lincoln LN2 4LQ and Lincoln Myle Cross Junior School, Macaulay Drive, St Giles, Lincoln LN2 4EL on 31 August 2007.
2. The opening of a 2 form entry all-through primary school with a Published Admission Number (PAN) of 60 and a capacity of up to 420 with effect from 1 September 2007.
3. The location of the new school would be on the Myle Cross site.
(The date of 1 September 2007 would allow time for all necessary building alterations to be made.)
Why is the County Council proposing to merge these schools?
The County Council has a policy of replacing infant and junior schools with all-through primary schools wherever it is both practical and financially feasible.
As the number of children born every year continues to fall the surplus capacity in our schools increase. Therefore we need to consider ways to reduce these surplus places.
An all-through primary school is one where children start with school at the age of four and continue until they go to secondary school.
There are seven main reasons behind this decision.
First, an all-through school removes the stress of transition from one school to another and provides continuity for learning and teaching. Children can find it stressful moving between schools and an all-through school allows them to build on relationships with their teachers.
Secondly, evidence shows nine out of ten of our primary age schools are all-through schools. It is a tried and tested model which produces good results.
Third, there are practical advantages for parents in all-through primary schools. It is easier for you to build relationships with one set of teachers. That can make getting involved with schools – through parents’ associations and the like – a lot simpler.
Fourth, parents can get to know schools very well. Since many parents have more than one child going through school, all-through primary schools can allow parents to really get to know teachers and support staff.
Fifth, all-through primary schools are good for teachers. The most successful schools offer development opportunities for their staff. Teachers working in all-through primary schools can gain experience across the full 4-11 age range. Larger all-through schools are better able to offer different specialisms and teaching styles.
Sixth, it’s easier to employ and retain teachers. Larger 4-11 schools are better able to recruit staff especially senior staff and these schools are more able to cope with change. You will know that there is a considerable amount of change in schools at the moment, with more to come. All through primary schools are in a better position to cope with changes in pupil numbers, working practices, staff sickness. And, of course, with more staff, it’s easier to spread the load of planning and administration, a key part of a successful school.
Seven, the creation of all through primary schools allows the merger of smaller schools. This is one way in which we can remove “surplus places” (where schools built for bigger numbers of pupils have too much space). Removing surplus places in this way will allow financial savings from heating, lighting and maintenance to be made.
Any money saved in this way will be reinvested in our schools. Any money gained from the sale of surplus school property will go back into the education budget.
So what does it mean for you?
In the case of your schools the proposal is to accommodate all the pupils from St Giles Infant School in the Myle Cross Junior School buildings, and close the Infant School site.
The route to achieving this is to formally close existing schools and open a new one.
All pupils in the existing school would be guaranteed places in the new school.
The new governing body would decide on which staff would be employed at the new school. But we fully expect that most staff would be transferred across into the new school.
Of course, there would only be one headteacher.
The Council would seek to redeploy teachers left without posts to other schools.
We believe we have assessed the future space needs correctly based on the following pupil number projections which take into account known new housing programmes, inward migration and birth rates.
Lincoln St Giles Infant School
NOR* (Sept 2005) / Capacity (Sept 2005) / Surplus Places / Projected NOR 2005/06 / Projected NOR 2006/07 / Projected NOR 2007/08 / Projected NOR 2008/09230 / 300 / 70 / 231 / 215 / 215 / 212
Lincoln Myle Cross Junior School
NOR (Sept 2005) / Capacity (Sept 2005) / Surplus Places / Projected NOR 2005/06 / Projected NOR 2006/07 / Projected NOR 2007/08 / Projected NOR 2008/09190 / 396 / 206 / 196 / 197 / 213 / 205
* NOR = Number on Roll
Your views
The Council wants to know what you think. It will consider any viable alternatives you may wish to propose.
You can make your views known in the following ways
a) by attending a public meeting at the school when you will have the opportunity to hear about the proposal and raise issues with Cllr Patricia Bradwell, Executive Member of the Council for Children’s Services
b) by completing and returning the attached reply slip
c) by email to
d) by letter to Children’s Services, Lincolnshire County Council, County Offices, Newland, Lincoln LN1 1YQ (FAO Rosemary Eades)
e) information is available on www.lincolnshire.gov.uk
f) there will also be a feature article in the February issue of County News directing readers to where they can access details of the proposals.
What happens next?
The results of this consultation will be reported to the Councils’ Policy and Development Group for Children’s Services on 23 February.
It will advise Councillor Patricia Bradwell, the Executive Member of the Council for Children’s Services, of their views.
Councillor Bradwell will decide whether to proceed to publish a notice for a school merger. If she does, then a statutory formal consultation period would then begin. This would end in mid April.
If there are any objections then the matter would go to the School Organisation Committee (SOC), is an independent body in May. It would decide whether the merger is to go ahead.
If this happens then the earliest a merger could take place would be on 1st September 2006.
Normally mergers take place for the beginning of school years and so an alternative start time could be 1st September 2007.
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Proposal Reply Slip
Having read the proposal please indicate your view below by ticking the relevant box.
I am in favour of the proposal I am neither for nor against the proposal
I am against the proposal
Additional comments
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Name ………………………………………………………………………………………
Address ………………………………………………………………………………………
Parent/Carer Teacher/Schools staff Governor Employer/Business
Other (please specify) ……………………………………………………………………..
Which school (if any) do you represent: ………………………………………………………………………
Please return the completed form to your school or to Children’s Services, Lincolnshire County Council, County Offices, Newland, Lincoln LN1 1YQ (FAO Rosemary Eades) by Wednesday 22 February 2006.
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