ITEM CA7 CABINET – 17 MAY 2007 SECONDARY SCHOOL PROVISION IN DIDCOT Report by Interim Director for Children, Young People & Families Introduction 1. This report serves to update Members on the progress being made to resolve the need for additional secondary pupil places in the Didcot area and seek approval to enter into a joint public consultation with the Learning & Skills Council (LSC) on the options identified. Background 2. On the 16 May 2006 the Cabinet received a report outlining the projected shortfall in pupil places across the County. Didcot was one of the areas reported where a large shortfall in both primary and secondary places was being forecast. Cabinet authorised Officers to undertake consultation with the public and two potential options are highlighted in the report at paragraphs 17 and 18 as a way of delivering the required future provision. 3. One of the options suggested was for a vocational facility for pupils aged 14+ and in order to consider consultation on this 14-19 option, it has been necessary to formulate a proposal that addressed curriculum, governance and management issues. This has involved lead professionals including the LSC, Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE) providers. The LSC commissioned a ‘scoping’ report to identify and examine the preferred options for the future education and training requirements in the area as the first stage of this process. The LSC are responsible for the revenue funding of post 16 provision and they are also able to contribute capital funding where there is a forecast increase in post 16 provision. 4. Local Didcot Members have been kept informed of the progress with two meetings held this year. Developer Contributions 5. The Council’s developer funding team have secured a contribution of £16.819M for additional secondary school provision, (together with £11.725M for additional primary school provision). 6. The secured funding relates to the development of 3,400 dwellings at Great Western Park. There will be further contributions from developers in addition to this which would relate to other developments in the town. 7. Whilst the funding for secondary places is likely to be sufficient to provide the required accommodation for the number of pupils from Great Western Park, it will be insufficient to provide for a complete new secondary school facility at the outset. It will be possible to build a substantial first phase of a development with subsequent phases funded from either future developer contributions or Department for Education & Skills (DfES) Building Schools for the Future (BSF) capital funding, which for Oxfordshire, is likely to be available from 2015, alternatively annual credit approvals could be set aside for this purpose. Programme 8. It would appear that the Great Western Park housing development has slipped further by about a year. However, to provide the accommodation in time for the arrival of the pupils, consultation is required to be completed by the end of the 2007 summer term. This delay has allowed time for the protracted negotiations with the developer to be concluded. 9. A potential programme for the secondary provision, on the basis of known activity, might be: • 2007/08 - Year 1 – Consultation phase • 2008/09 - Year 2 – Consultation/Design • 2009/10 - Year 3 – Design/Build • 2010/11 - Year 4 – Build • 2011/12 - Year 5 – New facility opens Future Secondary Provision 10. The need to increase the secondary provision in the area presents an opportunity to look afresh at the existing provision in the town and provide for the future needs of learners in Didcot in the most appropriate way. This is also an opportunity for the Council to demonstrate to the DfES, in advance of BSF, that it can consider innovative approaches to the secondary estate, where this is possible 11. The current pupil forecasts suggest that an additional facility for approximately 1,450 pupils will be required by 2020. Indications are that approximately 600 or so of those pupils will arrive by 2013, subject to the rate at which the new houses are built and sold or let. 12. There is some limited capacity in the accommodation at the two existing secondary schools in the town to take the increase in pupil numbers, until the new facility is available. However this will be increasingly reliant on temporary accommodation as 2013 approaches, unless the new facility is available. There is limited scope to extend the existing schools, particularly at Didcot Girls’ School and a brief appraisal of this option has been considered by officers and discounted as both financially and educationally non-viable. The schools collaborate well together and currently share a joint 6th Form. Any future plans will also need to take into account and be clear on how the existing school buildings will also be modernised. 13. Two meetings have taken place between the Council, the LSC, both existing secondary schools, Abingdon & Witney FE College and Oxford Brookes University. These meetings have predominantly focused on the LSC response to the scoping report and have led to more detailed discussions with the schools as to how a future and changing curriculum can best be delivered given the need to provide for the 14-19 diplomas and more personalised learning. 14. The main options that are being considered for public consultation at this stage were outlined in the May 2006 report to Cabinet: • New Secondary School. This could be a ‘traditional’ comprehensive school and would be a phased development initially, for the reasons mentioned in the report. It would be co-educational from Year 7 intake and sited at Great Western Park. However there is greater emphasis on collaboration between schools and a greater requirement for pupils to access a wider choice of subjects and courses, and with the proposed national changes for 14-19 provision, this area of the curriculum will have a different landscape in five to ten years time and it may be more difficult for the ‘traditional’ school to adapt, particularly in the area of premises. • New 14-19 Facility. This option allows the existing schools to develop their 14-19 diploma ‘offer’ in purpose built accommodation. It could be managed and governed with a similar approach to the existing joint 6th Form and would be co-educational from Year 9. It would involve the provision of a new facility at Great Western Park. Pupils could be ‘based’ at either of the existing schools and attend the new facility for part of the week and for post 16 education. The LSC, Abingdon & Witney College and Oxford Brookes University are keen to support this approach and see this as an opportunity to expand their provision in the town but this would be at the margins and they would be required to provide any additional funding needed. Future Consultation 15.
Given the expansion of post 16 education it is appropriate
to consider a joint consultation with the LSC. It is appropriate to return
the issue to Cabinet in the light of these developments and to seek clarification
on the nature of the consultation and the options. RECOMMENDATION 16. The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to: (a) authorise joint public consultation with the Learning & Skills Council on options for provision of additional secondary pupil places in Didcot as outlined in the report; and (b) ask Officers to report back on the outcome of the consultations and future proposals. JIM
CROOK Background papers: Cabinet Report - 16 May 2006 ‘Secondary School Places and Future Provision’. Contact Officer: Michael Mill, Strategic Manager (Property and Assets), Tel (01865) 816 458. May
2007
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