ITEM CA20
CABINET – 18 SEPTEMBER 2007
PRIMARY SCHOOL PROVISION IN SOUTH-WEST BICESTERReport by Director for Children Young People & Families
Introduction
1. A new housing development of 1,585 dwellings in South-West Bicester is likely to proceed subject to the finalisation of the Section 106 agreement. The negotiations have secured approximately £10m for education to include a new 14-class primary school, including Foundation Stage and Extended School facilities with a usable school site of appropriate size and shape. Discussions have also taken place about the plan for the school which will be a part of the new community.
2. Construction of the new school is unlikely to start before 2009 and the current expectation is that 620 houses will be provided by 2011 but the peak in the primary school numbers will not occur until after 2015.
New School Proposal
3. Negotiations have taken place between the local authority, the Diocese and the Governors of St Edburg’s School about the potential of relocating the existing St Edburg’s School to the new site rather than providing an additional new school for Bicester. This proposal is similar to the scheme for relocating Dashwood School to the old Cattle Market site in Banbury. St Edburg’s is a Voluntary Aided school and has 170 pupils on the roll, including early years; 100 of these are from its own catchment area. The catchment area for the school straddles both sides of Queens Avenue in Bicester and a number of the houses in the current catchment are closer to Brookside or King’s Meadow schools.
4. There are a number of advantages to proceeding with this proposal:
· St Edburg’s site is substandard in terms of size, access is difficult and there are a number of issues regarding the suitability and condition of the existing buildings. · This proposal would not increase the total number of schools in Bicester, although it would increase the provision by up to 14 new classrooms. · The scheme is dependent upon the capital receipt from the disposal of the St Edburg’s site providing new accommodation at the other neighbouring schools. The developers are providing a 14-class school on the basis of new pupils being generated, so overall within South Bicester there must be a total net gain of 14 new classes. Additional accommodation may be required at neighbouring schools to absorb the existing St Edburg’s catchment area as the new school would serve the new estate. There will be a requirement to change catchment areas and investment elsewhere may also reduce the number of temporary classrooms and surplus places as the likely peak for the new housing estate could be in the region of 480. Although the pupils currently attending St Edburg’s and probably future siblings will be able to attend the new school, in the longer term there are historically around 100 pupils who attend St Edburg’s as their catchment school and who would need to be accommodated elsewhere. · In developing a school there are significant advantages in having an existing headteacher and governing body that can be part of the process of opening the new school. Pupils who will be living in the in the new housing before the new buildings are open can be directed to St Edburg’s and they will have continuity of education. As a number of existing pupils are likely to move to the new school with St Edburg’s the school will begin at a viable size with reasonable numbers in each year group, rather than potentially having a small number to start with and with class groupings stretching across a number of year groups. · A statutory process is required to increase the size of St Edburg’s but this would avoid the need for a new school competition, which is likely to add six months to the procurement process. · School provision within Bicester is expanding and this proposal provides the opportunity for the only Church of England school within the town to expand and provide additional places albeit largely from within the new housing development.
5. The other schools directly affected by the proposals are Brookside, King’s Meadow and Longfields.
1This figure is based on the current pupils attending St Edburg’s going to the other schools in the same proportion as currently and absorbing those pupils from their own catchment area who might have to go back to their local school. This figure therefore takes no account of parental preference or choice and is therefore indicative only.
6. Catchment areas for the schools in the area will need to be reviewed. It is possible that final decision on the catchment area will be made in the context of the Primary School Review process which is likely to consider Bicester as a whole in 2008 but is likely that the area to the east of Queens Avenue will become part of Longfields catchment area and to the West of Queens Avenue will be divided between Brookside and King’s Meadow. Although Chesterton School is not likely to be affected by the proposal it is likely that the catchment area will be changed. Although a new school will be technically moving into the Chesterton Parish no objections are being raised to this in discussions that have taken place through the Diocese. Meetings have taken place with headteachers of the neighbouring schools.
7. As a Voluntary Aided school the governors are responsible for the admission arrangements but there will need to be agreement that eventually the admission arrangements will reflect the need of the school to serve the new estate as the top priority.
Consultation
8. Because St Edburg’s is a Voluntary Aided school the responsibility for leading on the consultation process and bringing forward statutory notices lies with the governors supported by the Oxford Diocese and not the Local Authority. It is the case though if a statutory process on these proposals does go forward then the County Council would be the ‘decision-maker’.
Financial and Staff Implications
9. Local Authority officers have been engaged in negotiations with developers and in discussion on this particular proposal but there are no financial and staffing implications with regard to the recommendations in this report. If the relocation of St Edburg’s is to proceed then the project is likely to be managed by the Oxford Diocese with a legal agreement being required to release funding to them secured through the Section 106 Agreement.
RECOMMENDATION
10. The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to support the informal consultation to be undertaken by the governing body of St Edburg’s school on the relocation of the school to South-West Bicester.
JANET TOMLINSON Director for Children, Young People & Families
Background Papers: Nil.
Contact Officer: Michael Mill, Strategic Manager Property & Assets, Tel: (01865) 816458
September 2007
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