Agenda item

Cabinet Member: Schools Improvement

Forward Plan Ref: 2011/007

Contact: Roy Leach, Strategic Lead – School Organisation & Planning Tel: (01865) 816458

Report by Director for Children, Young People & Families (CA6).

The viability of Culham Parochial Primary School has been called into question due to a combination of factors: inability of the governing body to recruit a headteacher, falling pupil roll and deficit budget.  Efforts have been made by the governing body, supported by the council and the Oxford Diocese, to address these issues but it has not been possible to put in place a viable recovery plan. Reluctantly, council officers, the Diocese and  governors in post at the start of the 2010-11 academic year, concluded that the school does not have a future and the council has undertaken a public consultation about a proposal to close the school with effect from the end of the current academic year. The report presents the outcomes of the consultation and describes the next steps required if effect is to be given to the proposal to close the school.

Cabinet decided in February to “defer the decision on whether to publish a statutory notice for the closure of Culham Parochial School to the March Cabinet to allow time for [three] conditions to be met”.

The Cabinet report considered on 16 February is attached and an update on the current position will be provided at the meeting to give maximum time for the conditions to be met

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 in that any delay would seriously prejudice the Council’s interests, due to additional financial costs, and the interests of the public in that the publication of any necessary statutory notice would be delayed leading to significant disadvantage to parents with children at the School.

Cabinet at its meeting on 16 February considered a report that set out the

outcomes of the consultation about a proposal to close the school with effect

from the end of the current academic year and describing the next steps

required if effect was to be given to the proposal to close the school.

Following representations from the school, Cabinet deferred a decision to the

March Cabinet to allow three conditions to be met for the school to remain

open. Cabinet received an update on the interview process for the appointment of a head teacher.

Note: As set out under Rule 18(a) of the Scrutiny Procedure Rules, this decision is exempt from Call-In as any delay would seriously prejudice the Council’s interests, due to additional financial costs, and the interests of the public in that the publication of any necessary statutory notice would be delayed leading to significant disadvantage to parents with children at the School.

Mr Churchill-Stone gave an update on the remaining two conditions advising that there would be 39 children on roll by  January 2012 and 46 by the January following. In terms of the financial position he referred to\the personal pledges of funding for 3 years from people in the audience of the meeting today and that a positive budget could be achieved. He was happy to meet with officers to prove his budget robust. He referred to the lack of appointment of a head teacher but commented that a further advertising round was underway and that he was confident that the leadership issue could be resolved. Help was being given by the National Education Trust.

Mr Kitson added that in respect of the numbers on roll the figures were based on detailed information that had been given to the Authority for verification.

Responding to a question about any progress towards a hard federation Mr Churchill-Stone advised that they were talking to other schools but that it was impossible to have something in place by September 2011.

Councillor Lorraine Lindsay-Gale speaking as a local member commented on the hard work of the Governors. They had successfully met two of the three conditions and she hoped that the Cabinet would be able to respond to what had already been done.

The Cabinet Member for Schools Improvement stated that he had met with those involved and officers in the last week. He stressed that it was the approach of the Council to support small schools and that there had been no closure of a small school in six years. Efforts had been made over a number of years to get the school to confront the need for a federation. He referred to the papers he had received today and indicated that the numbers and budget figures would need to be verified by officers. He acknowledged the work done and expressed his regret that it had not been possible to appoint from the short list. The school needs strong and sustainable leadership. He did not believe that the Council should leave the children’s future in doubt and so he was proposing that the closure notice be issued. However he suggested that the door remain open to the school until the preparation of the May Cabinet report and that Governors continue to work.

Responding to questions from Cabinet Members, Roy Leach indicated that the publication of the closure notice would make the recruitment process more difficult and explained why small schools were seen as unattractive for aspiring head teachers. In terms of numbers at the school he believed that 32 pupils could be achieved with the increase in reception pupils but that he would want to look at the evidence for numbers in late year groups.

Cabinet in supporting the proposal by Councillor Waine asked that, as before, any interview held for the head teacher post should involve two local authority representatives.

RESOLVED:             to proceed with the publication of a statutory notice to close Culham Primary Parochial School with effect from 31^st August 2011 but that the opportunity remain open for the three conditions previously set by the Cabinet to be fulfilled prior to the production of the report to Cabinet in May; it was further agreed that two Local Authority representatives be included on any interview panel for the Headteacher.