Meeting documents

Cabinet
Tuesday, 6 June 2006

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Division(s): Banbury Hardwick

ITEM CA9 - ANNEX 1

CABINET – 6 JUNE 2006

DRAYTON SCHOOL, BANBURY: CREATION OF AN ACADEMY

Secondary Education Provision in the Banbury Area

Extract from a report by the Director for Learning & Culture to the Cabinet on 6 December 2005

Introduction

  1. The Executive in April 2004 considered a report which contained a number of possible options for meeting secondary education needs in the Banbury area with a specific focus on that part of the town currently served by Drayton School. Of the six options presented, two were considered to warrant further investigation: a merger of Drayton School and Oxford and Cherwell [Valley] College; and the creation of an Academy on the Drayton School campus.
  2. Since April 2004 there has been a series of discussions between officers, the Principal of the Oxford & Cherwell Valley College (OCVC), the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and representatives of potential sponsors of an Academy.
  3. This has led to the conclusion that of the two options identified for further consideration, only one – the creation of an Academy on the Drayton School campus – would be viable. The creation of a school-college hybrid institution is still beset by currently unresolved issues of governance and no secure legal underpinning. In addition it would bring with it no guarantee of sufficient capital investment to create a modern, state of the art educational institution capable of making sufficient impact on the hitherto intractable problem of raising educational standards.
  4. Preferred Option

  5. The Government’s academies programme aims to establish some 200 institutions by 2010. These are publicly funded schools (which do not charge fees) independent of their host local authority. The programme provides access to significant capital investment for either major refurbishment of existing school buildings or new build. Combined with a contribution from a sponsor (or sponsors) this may amount to in excess of £20m. The contribution from the County Council consists of entering into a long-term lease of land to the Academy sponsor (typically 125 years) and officer time.
  6. ‘Media and Communication’ has been identified as the Academy’s specialism. This would complement those already available in the local area (Technology at The Warriner, Sport at Blessed George Napier, Art & Design at OCVC and Humanities proposed for Banbury School), enhancing the range of provision accessible to secondary age students. Raising the overall quality, range and profile of education in the town should result in more primary age pupils transferring to local secondary schools and contribute to improved staying on rates post-16, including those transferring to the area sixth form at Banbury School or to OCVC. Vociferous parental objections to the 2003 proposal to relocate Drayton School to the Blessed George Napier site suggest that the Academy would be unlikely to draw significant numbers of pupils from outside the current Drayton School catchment area and the sponsors are committed to giving preference for admission to those living closest to the Academy.
  7. Through the DfES, possible sponsors for an Academy have been identified. In discussions (held in confidence) with potential sponsors, officers have emphasized the principle that improvements in secondary provision in the north of Banbury should be part of an area-wide approach to raising educational achievement. Although attainment at Drayton School is the lowest in the area, there remains a need to improve educational outcomes across the whole town. Therefore joint working with Oxfordshire County Council, neighbouring schools and other providers is regarded as essential for success.
  8. Supported by the DfES an ‘Expression of Interest’ document has been put together. It outlines a proposal to create an 11–19 Academy to replace the current Drayton School on the Drayton School campus. The Academy would be established to meet the needs of the community in which it is located and would operate an admissions policy in line with that of neighbouring local authority schools. It would offer high quality vocational and academic opportunities in close collaboration with OCVC and contribute to the local 14–19 area partnership. It would also be of a capacity sufficient to meet the increased demand for secondary school places likely to be generated by new housing developments in Banbury and from improved transfer rates from local primary schools.
  9. It is anticipated that by the time the Cabinet considers this paper the ‘Expression of Interest’ will have been presented to a Government minister for formal approval for the process to move to the next stage.
  10. Next Steps

  11. If the Cabinet is minded to agree to proceeding with the intention to create an Academy to replace Drayton School and the minister gives approval, the sequence of events would be as follows:

    1. Feasibility stage: A project team will be put together by the DfES from its ‘Project Management Service Companies’ and architects. This will produce detailed plans and an outline building design and carry out formal consultation with the local community. The detailed plans will be submitted to the Secretary of State. Depending upon the complexity of the project this stage will last between 6 and 18 months. During this stage further investigation into the feasibility of relocating the Frank Wise Special School secondary provision will be undertaken.
    2. Formal consultation with the County Council will be undertaken by the Secretary of State.
    3. A funding agreement will be drawn up between the Secretary of State and the Academy Trust with a binding commitment to open an Academy on a specified date.
    4. Implementation stage: The Academy will come into existence as a legal entity but in the current Drayton School buildings. This will require the formal closure of Drayton School. During this stage some of the curriculum innovations intended to raise achievement will be implemented whilst at the same time new buildings will be appearing on the site.

    Conclusion

  12. The 2003 proposal to relocate Drayton school to the current site of Blessed George Napier school demonstrated a very strong local commitment to continuing provision of secondary education in north Banbury. Since then significant additional resources, including the creation of a formal partnership with Matthew Arnold School, have been made available to Drayton School but educational standards remain unacceptably low. The inescapable conclusion is that ‘more of the same’ is unlikely to produce the step change in performance that is required. In the absence of further substantial capital investment, the current school premises are unlikely to prove capable of supporting the significant curriculum innovation needed to more successfully meet the full range of student needs in the Drayton catchment area.
  13. Having considered a range of possible options in 2004 and narrowed these down to two with the potential to have significant impact on educational standards, officers have concluded that only the creation of an Academy to replace Drayton school will (a) allow the drawing down of significant capital investment and (b) lift the educational aspirations of students and the whole community and (c) support the raising of educational standards.
  14. Financial and Staffing Implications

  15. Other than the commitment of officer time there are none arising directly from this report.
  16. The creation of an Academy would require the closure of Drayton School and the transfer of some or all of the site to the sponsor under a 125 year lease.
  17. Under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE), the staff of Drayton School would be entitled to transfer to the Academy. The pay and conditions of staff transferred would initially be those pertaining at the time of transfer but would then be subject to negotiation and variation by the sponsor (one of the freedoms enjoyed by Academies is that they are not bound by the School Teachers Pay & Conditions Document). It is expected that eligible employees would be able to remain within the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.
  18. In revenue terms the creation of an Academy is cost neutral with its budget share being the same as if it were a school maintained by the host local authority. If Drayton School were not to be replaced by an Academy it is likely that in due course significant capital investment would be required. The recent experience of the rejection of the Targeted Capital Fund bid to rebuild Harriers Ground School and enhance the building stock of Banbury School confirms that there is no guarantee of this funding stream meeting the cost of capital works. The creation of an Academy therefore removes this element of risk from the County Council as all capital work is met directly by the DfES.

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