Issue - meetings

Cabinet Member: Children, Education & Families

Forward Plan Ref: 2013/116

Contact: Diane Cameron, School Organisation Officer Tel: (01865) 816445

Report by Director for Children’s Services (CA9).

The proposal is to increase the formal published admission number from 30 to 60 children at Queensway Primary School in Banbury, on a permanent basis from September 2014. This will eventually increase the school’s total capacity from its current 277 places in Years R - Y6 to a maximum of 420.

Additional classroom and supporting spaces will need to be created at the school to accommodate a permanent increase in pupil numbers, although as the school was originally built to be 2 form entry this is not necessarily required to immediately be new build.

The school has worked with the county council in admitting 60 pupils per year for the last two years as "bulge" classes, accommodating the additional children in existing permanent spaces with minimal internal remodelling required. The expectation is that more of the school's space can be brought back in to use as classrooms for at least another year.  In the longer term new build may be required and will be the subject of an option appraisal, which would examine the whole site for options and would go through the planning permission process in the usual way.

A final decision on the permanent expansion of the school is now sought.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to approve the permanent expansion of Queensway Primary School with effect from 1 September 2014.

Cabinet considered a proposed increase to the published admission number from 30 to 60 children at Queensway Primary School in Banbury, on a permanent basis from September 2014. This will eventually increase the school’s total capacity from its current 277 places in Years Reception – Year 6 to a maximum of 420.

Councillor Tilley noted that in future reports such as this would be considered in her delegated decision session so that this was likely to be the last such report to Cabinet, with the exception of proposals that received significant levels of objection.

Note: As set out under Rule 18(a) of the Scrutiny Procedure Rules, this decision is exempt from Call-In as it is deemed urgent and any delay would seriously prejudice the Council’s interests, in that the Cabinet’s role would be negated by referral to the Schools’ Adjudicator if the decisions were not taken within two months of the end of the Statutory Notices, in this case being 10 December  2013.

RESOLVED:             to:

(a)          approve the permanent expansion of Queensway Primary School with effect from 1 September 2014; and

(b)          to note that future proposal of this nature would be considered by the Cabinet Member for Children, Education & Families unless there were significant levels of objection.