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ITEM EX7

EXECUTIVE – 4 SEPTEMBER 2002

NEITHROP JUNIOR AND INFANTS SCHOOLS, BANBURY - FUTURE DIRECTIONS

Report by Acting Chief Education Officer

1. Members of the Executive will be familiar with the sequence of decisions/events surrounding the future of the above two schools. Following a long period of operational and standards difficulties, the Executive, at its meeting on 17 April, asked that consultations should take place on a specific proposal which would close Neithrop Junior School, and would see Neithrop Infants School change from being a school for children aged 3 – 7, to 3 – 11. The consultations revealed widespread support for the proposal, and at its meeting on 25 June, the Executive authorised the publication of the necessary statutory notices to effect the changes. These notices were published on 27 June.
2. The statutory notice period is two calendar months: the objection period accordingly closed on 27 August. This report fulfils three functions: it reports the outcome of the statutory notice procedure, seeks the necessary approvals for the next stage of the reorganisation process and summarises the position on discussions with Department for Education & Skills (DfES) on the "Fresh Start" methodology.

Reorganisation Process

3. Both the schools in question are community schools (not church schools). Any statutory proposals affecting a church school must be determined by the School Organisation Committee (SOC). In the case of community schools, where proposals are put forward by an Local Education Authority (LEA) to make changes, these proposals can be finally determined by the LEA, without reference to the SOC, if no objections have been lodged during the statutory notice period. If objections have been lodged (even just one), the proposals must be referred by the LEA to the SOC for consideration.
4. In the case of the Neithrop Schools reorganisation, no objections have been received to the statutory proposals. Accordingly the Executive is asked to finally determine whether they wish the reorganisation to proceed (i.e. the closure of the Junior School, and the age range change to the Infants School to be implemented). The technical date of implementation would be the October half term, though, in practice, the schools will operate under single management from the start of the September term.

Fresh Start

5. "Fresh Start" is the title given by the DfES to arrangements whereby a special measures school can be closed, and later reopened as a legally new institution, the idea being that such a procedure removes the special measure label, enables major internal restructuring to take place (including staffing), and enables the school to reopen (under new leadership, with a new governing body etc.), with a good chance of success. Whilst technically the Neithrop circumstances do not meet the Fresh Start criteria, the DfES have accepted elsewhere in the country similar reorganisations as qualifying for grant aid under the Fresh Start arrangements. Following informal discussions in April, and work throughout the summer term, a formal submission was made to the DfES in late July for the Neithrop changes to be supported financially under the Fresh Start system. The bid has been approved in principle by ministers. In revenue terms, the DfES are agreeing to supplement LEA support for the new school by approximately £350,000 over the coming three school years. The detail will be subject to further discussions. In capital terms, the potential for expenditure in the order of £2.5m has been raised with the DfES, and, again, indications are that they are willing to consider support of this order, though they wish to involve DfES nominated architects in helping to draw up a scheme.
6. The two schools have worked closely together over recent months, with a view to arrangements in September mirroring, as far as possible, the reality of single management. In personnel terms, one teacher only from the Junior School will transfer to the staffing establishment of the new school (this is a newly recruited teacher who joined the school only a few weeks ago). Individual casework is taking place with the teachers left without a post for the new term, and various possibilities for employment are being explored. Following discussions with professional representatives, it has been agreed that the headteacher of the Junior School will not be on site from 1 September.

School Name

7. The governing body of the Infant School, with the support of the Junior School, led a local debate over the name of the school. The outcome of this is that both sets of governors would like to see the new school named "Orchard Fields Community School", from this Autumn.

Staff Implications

8. Reference was made to staffing changes in the Fresh Start paragraphs above. The latest position will be reported at the meeting.

Financial Implications

9. As noted above, the DfES have accepted, in principle, the bid for additional financial support in the order of £350,000 for the coming three school years (revenue). This money will be in addition to resources generated through the Fair Funding formula and also in addition to any resources skewed towards the new school to assist its inception (e.g. officer time, adviser time, etc.). Care is being taken to build in an exit strategy to avoid an expectation of favourable financing being retained beyond the three year period. In the longer term, the potential exists for some modest saving to the LEA, in that the Orchard Fields Community School, as a single school, would generate only one set of fixed costs under the Fair Funding formula (£32,000), whereas hitherto the two legally separate schools have generated two sets of fixed costs.

RECOMMENDATIONS

10. The Executive is RECOMMENDED, in view of no objections having been received, to determine to proceed with the reorganisation proposals as outlined in the report and instruct officers to implement the reorganisation proposals by the October school half term.