ITEM CMDSI3
CABINET MEMBER FOR SCHOOLS IMPROVEMENT - 5 FEBRUARY 2008
DETAILED PROJECT APPRAISAL APPRAISAL NO. ED 676
NAME OF SCHEME: Banbury, Hanwell Fields Community School – Extensions and alterations to increase pupil admissions to one and a half forms of entry
START YEAR: 2007/2008
BASIS OF ESTIMATE: Atkins estimate based on agreed sketch scheme.
1. INTRODUCTION
Hanwell Fields Community School was opened in 2003 as a new 8 classroom school with nursery facilities to serve the new housing development to the north of Banbury. The school is currently oversubscribed from within its own catchment area and additional accommodation is required. There is the potential for further expansion with additional housing planned within the catchment area.
The Cabinet Member for Schools
Improvement, at his meeting on 4 December 2007, agreed that an informal consultation
should be undertaken and subsequently statutory notices have been published to
increase the school capacity to 1½ forms of entry giving a planned admission of
45 pupils each year. This Detailed Project Appraisal and the implementation of
the extensions and alterations at the school are subject to the formal
statutory notice procedure and determination of the notice by the County
Council.
2. DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT
The proposal is to increase the school capacity to 1½ forms of entry by providing a new ‘nursery’ space releasing the existing nursery as a Foundation stage classroom. There will also be 2 additional classrooms, a community classroom, 2 rooms for individual or small groups of pupils, additional toilets and storage facilities, increased size of assembly hall space and associated storage, a studio-initially to be used as a classroom, increased library space and minor changes to the external covered area and hard play provision. This will increase the capacity of the school by 90 places.
The additional non-classroom space will be sufficient should the school need to increase to 2 forms of entry if further housing developments in the catchment area are given permission. This would require an additional 4 classrooms to be added at some point in the future and a planning application has been submitted on this basis.
A small area of playing field will be lost as a result of the proposed development and Agreement has been reached with Sport England that 1) the existing games pitch will be laid out as a mini-soccer pitch in line with Football Association and Sport England guidelines and 2) that Cherwell District Council will provide two football pitches locally for the school to use. These arrangements will provide sufficient playing field facilities for the school to expand to 2 forms of entry.
The scheme has been designed in accordance with the Primary School Brief and in line with DfES guidelines and meets the objectives of the County Council’s Corporate Plan by improving the opportunity to enjoy effective teaching and learning.
The scheme has the full support of staff and the school’s governing body.
3. JUSTIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT OF NEED
The Hanwell Fields residential development to the North of Banbury now totals over a thousand houses with the final phase of houses nearing completion. The school is a popular and successful school which is currently oversubscribed from within its own catchment area and therefore, it is evident that there will be insufficient space if it is not expanded above its current 8 classrooms including foundation stage.
In September 2006, of the 32 children admitted, 30 were from the school’s catchment area and 2 were admitted on appeal from outside the school’s catchment area. Currently, there are 14 children on the waiting list of whom 4 are ‘in catchment’, the nursery is full and for September 2008 admission there are 42 children with applications with the school as a first preference.
If the school does not have the classroom extension, this would mean families walking past the school to get to other schools in the town. The nearest school is Hardwick Primary School which has been taking some of the Hanwell Fields catchment children that are unable to get a place at that school. Hardwick Primary School will shortly have a major modernisation scheme taking place but this will not affect the capacity significantly and the school currently fills to its admission number.
The proposed scheme is in agreement with the County Council's Corporate Plan priorities to provide sufficient accommodation to enable delivery of the National Curriculum and the County Council’s Children’s and Young People’s Plan which outlines five key outcomes for children and young people: · Enjoying and Achieving · Staying Safe · Economic Wellbeing · Being Healthy · Making a Positive Contribution 4. OTHER OPTIONS
The other options would be:
· to direct additional pupils to other schools in the town. This would be likely to lead to an increase in appeals, reduce parental choice and give parents more difficulty in getting children safely to and from school;
· to provide temporary classrooms on site or on the site of other local primary schools. This is not costed to be a viable proposition because of the number of temporary classrooms needed and the site limitations and longer term financial implications. It is considered inappropriate to use temporary classrooms to meet a long-term need. Temporary classroom provision would not be suitable to provide for the addition non-classroom facilities.
5. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
(i) Capital
The estimated cost of the project inclusive of fees is £1,800,000.
These costs will be met from developer contributions secured under S106 agreements and identified for this school (£194,000), school contribution from their Devolved Formula Capital grant (£55,000) and the balance (£1,551,000) from government loan sanction provided as part of Oxfordshire’s Supported Capital Expenditure allocation.
The school contribution of £55,000 will be provided from current and future financial allocations based upon £23,000 (2006/07), £26,000 (2007/08) and £6,000 (2008/09).
The scheme is identified in the Capital Programme Forward Plan.
(ii) Revenue
The school will meet day-to-day repair and maintenance costs and structural repairs and staffing costs as part of the Council’s Fair Funding arrangements.
(iii) Risk
Regular risk assessments have been carried out and a Risk Register is maintained to manage, reduce or remove identified risks.
6. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
The building work will be carried out in accordance with the planning permission issued by the County Council. The design, materials and landscaping will be as specified in the planning consent.
The design provides for natural ventilation and solar shading without depriving the internal areas of natural lighting, as per "Guidelines for Environmental Design in Schools - Building Bulletin 87". The building is expected to receive a "Good" rating in the Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) Pre-Assessment estimation, which allows a quick evaluation of the likely environmental rating a building would achieve under a formal BREEAM Schools assessment.
The sustainability principles applied to the design incorporate the values of comfort, good internal environment (heating, lighting, ventilation) and adequacy to the teaching areas. The existing quality of the site and landscape will be enhanced by re-provision of the same number of trees that will be lost. The scheme takes into account the current services and building features and in so doing will make efficient use of the available resources.
JANET TOMLINSON Director for Children, Young People & Families
SUE SCANE Assistant Chief Executive & Chief Finance Officer
NEIL MONAGHAN Head of Property, Environment & Economy
Background Papers: Nil
Contact Officer: John Phipps, Service Manager, Property & Assets, Children, Young People and Families Directorate, Tel: (01865) 816455
January 2008
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