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Cabinet
Tuesday, 16 January 2007

CA160107-05

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ITEM CA5

CABINET – 16 JANUARY 2007

REPORT ON THE CONSULTATION OF THE FUTURE OF DUNMORE INFANT AND JUNIOR SCHOOLS

Report by Director for Children, Young People & Families

Introduction
  1. On 1 September 2006 in response to a briefing paper, the Cabinet Members for Children, Young People & Families (CYP&F) and Schools Improvement requested officers in CYP&F to undertake an informal consultation on the future of the Dunmore Infant and Junior Schools for the following reasons:
    • The instability of leadership and management of the junior school over the past five years culminating in the school being placed in special measures in October 2005 having been judged not to be providing children with an acceptable standard of education;

    • The lack of resolution of the leadership gap at senior management level in the junior school. The school is currently being led on an acting basis by a Local Authority (LA) School Improvement Advisory Headteacher and deputy headteacher, both seconded from the Educational Effectiveness Service (EES).
  1. The two options put forward in the consultation paper for consideration by stakeholders with the objective of achieving consistent and sustainable high quality teaching and learning and high achievement throughout all key stages were:
    • To create an all through primary school in place of the separate infants and junior schools;

    • To create an all through 3-19 school by extending the age range of Fitzharrys School.

      (Public Meeting Presentation - Options for the Future of the Dunmore Infant & Junior Schools - download as .pdf file)

      (Options for the Future of the Dunmore Infant & Junior Schools - download as .pdf file)

      (Responses to Consultation -       download as .pdf file)

      (Dunmore Risk Register Updated 5 January 2007 -       download as .pdf file)

      (Summary of Responses to Consultation "Options for the Future of the Dunmore Infant & Junior Schools" -       download as .pdf file)

      Consultation Findings
  1. The full response in paper form is available in the Members’ Resource Centre at County Hall. A spreadsheet listing all of the respondees and their views is attached to this report at Annex 1, together with a full analysis of the consultation responses, the consultation paper itself and the powerpoint presentation used at public meetings (22 and 22 November 2006).

  2. In summary, the findings of the consultation are as follows:
    • The overwhelming majority of written responses strongly opposed Option 2 (116 individual written responses against and 97% of the governors’ poll of parents (representing 337 votes) taken from the Dunmore Futures response) – the creation of a 3-19 school by extending the age range of Fitzharrys School.

The response from the Fitzharrys Chair of Governors and Headteacher dated 29 November 2006 stated that the unanimous view of the governing body, in the light of the response to the consultation at that point, was that option 2 was not in the best interests of Fitzharrys School. Therefore the governing body wished it to be removed from the options presented to the Cabinet for decision.
    • There is a clear majority of support for the creation of an all through primary school (98 in favour and 97% of the governors’ poll of parents)

    • The maintenance of the status quo was put forward as an alternative option to those in the consultation and attracted support from 30 respondees and 43% of the governors’ poll of parents.

    • A further alternative option - forming a federation of the infant and junior schools - attracted support from 8% of the governors’ poll of parents to give the opportunity for further exploration of maintenance of the status quo or the creation of a primary school.
  1. The clear messages emerging from the consultation are:
    • There is widespread and strong opposition from nearly all the stakeholders to Option 2, the creation of a 3-19 school by extending the age range of Fitzharrys School.

    • There is overall support for the creation of an all through primary school with alternative suggestions to those in the consultation paper as to how this might be achieved.

Risk Management
  1. A risk register evaluating the risks of all the options including those proposals arising through the consultation, is appended at Annex 2. Maintenance of the status quo is judged to offer the highest risk with the creation of a federation of the infant and junior schools similarly assessed.

    2. Financial and Staff Implications

  2. The current total funding for both the Dunmore Infant and Junior Schools for 2006-07 is £1,333,209, based on current pupil numbers and staffing. The funding for a new primary school would be £1,109,898. The difference is made up of the following elements:
     

    £

    Weighting of Special Needs Index (SNI) %

    7,228

    Removal of one fixed costs

    44,430

    Clawback/compensation removed

    (14,220)

    Minimum funding guarantee removed
    16,145

    Premises

    0

    High staff costs

    180

    Pupil adjustment
    169,548

    Total

    223,311

  3. The above amounts would be recycled through the formula to all schools including the new Dunmore primary school. Depending on the route taken to achieve a primary school, the school would also qualify for an amalgamation allowance of £45,000 or a new school set up allowance of £65,100 thus minimising further any real saving to the DSG.

  4. In a federation both schools retain their separate budgets, which would be managed as one joint resource by a joint governing body.

  5. Total numbers of staff at both schools (both full time and part time) are 20.16 full-time equivalent (fte) teaching staff and 20.51 fte support staff. The shadow governing body and headteacher of a new primary school would need to devise the staffing structure which would be likely to include all the permanent staff who wished to be involved in the new school. Adjustments might be needed to the temporary contracts depending on needs but any staffing savings are likely to be minimal, the pay grant reduced accordingly would reduce accordingly.

  6. There are no capital costs to be incurred in the creation of a primary school by either of the two methods proposed nor in relation to a federation. The LA could apply for Department for Education & Skills (DfES) Fresh Start Funding as Dunmore Junior School is in special measures. It is proposed that officers meet with DfES personnel to explore the possibility if the Cabinet accepts the recommendation to the meeting of 20 February 2007.

    7. Governance

  7. The governance of a new primary school would be achieved either by the creation of a shadow governing body from a nucleus of governors on both the infant and junior school governing bodies, or by extending the size of the existing governing body of the infant school. In the former case, the shadow governing body would be incorporated six weeks after the opening of the new school. In the case of a federation of the Infant and Junior Schools, a new governing body would also be formed from the existing governing bodies to an agreed timescale.

    8.   Legal Implications

  8. The creation of a new primary school as proposed in Option 1 of the consultation paper would require the closure of both the Infant and Junior Schools following a period of formal consultation after the publication of statutory notices of closure. The length of the consultation period is six weeks for the Infant School, and four weeks for the Junior School, given that it is in special measures. The creation of a new primary school by extending the age range of the Infant School to 3-11, would require the closure of the Junior School only following the formal consultation process outlined above. The alterative proposal to federate would not require closure of either school but the creation of a joint governing body.

    9. RECOMMENDATION

  9. In the light of the consultation responses the Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

          1. agree that the creation of an all though 3-19 school, by extending the age range of Fitzharrys School, should not be pursued to the formal consultation stage, given the strength and scale of the opposition to it;

          2. approve the creation of an all through primary school on the Dunmore Infant and Junior School Sites; and

          3. instruct officers to explore further, in consultation with a representative group of governors from the Dunmore Infant and Junior schools, ways of achieving a primary school in place of separate infant and junior schools and to report back to the Cabinet on 20 February 2007 with recommendations on the primary school model that should be taken forward to formal consultation.

KEITH BARTLEY
Director for Children, Young People & Families

Background papers:
Consultation Paper for the future of the Dunmore Infant and Junior Schools
Powerpoint presentation used at public meetings (21 and 22 November 2006)
Risk Analysis of the options
Consultation Spreadsheet and Analysis of responses

Contact Officer: Irene Kirkman, Assistant Head of Educational Effectiveness Service, School Support Services, Tel: (01865) 815843

January 2007

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