ITEM CA8 CABINET – 16 OCTOBER 2007
PROVISION OF ADDITIONAL SECONDARY PUPIL PLACES IN BICESTER
Report by the Director for Children Young People & Families
Introduction
1. At its meeting on 15 May 2007, the Cabinet authorised officers to undertake a formal consultation, jointly with the local Learning & Skills Council (LSC), with a wide range of stakeholders on proposals to meet the rising need for secondary pupil places in Bicester.
2. The Learning and Skills Act 2000 provides an entitlement to further education and training for young people aged 16-19. Schools and colleges are required to offer high quality provision to meet the diverse needs of all young people, their communities and employers which is accessible within reasonable travelling distance.
3. A consultation document (Appendix 1) (download as .pdf file) was circulated to the following parties:
Governors and staff of the schools in Bicester. Pupils from the schools in Bicester. Parents/guardians of pupils attending the primary schools in the area. The Dioceses of Birmingham, Oxford and Portsmouth. The Member of Parliament. Oxford and Cherwell Valley College. Oxfordshire County Council Elected Members. Local District, Town and Parish Councils. The Local Business Community. Other local people with an interest in the local schools.
4. In addition to this, two public meetings for parents and members of the community were held: one at The Cooper School on 20 June 2007 and a second at Bicester Community College on 3 July 2007.
5. This report summarises the findings from the public consultation which concluded in July 2007 and recommends a way forward to meet the future demand for secondary school places in the area.
Background
6. The report to Cabinet in May 2007 outlined the full position regarding secondary school places in the Bicester area. In summary: Bicester currently has two secondary schools: The Cooper School with specialist science status and Bicester Community School with specialist technology status. The Cooper School is 11-16 and there is Post 16 provision at Bicester Community College. There is very limited further education provision in the town with students required to travel to Banbury or Oxford to participate in post 16 vocational education. There are currently 350 surplus places in the schools. There continues to be significant new housing growth within the schools catchment areas committing an additional 3,600 dwellings (approx) by 2016 with a further 2,000 or so dwellings beyond that. It is estimated that beyond the existing schools’ capacities an additional 850 pupil places will be required. A new site is reserved for secondary school provision within the proposed development to the south-west of Bicester.
7. The consultation focused on three options:
(A) New secondary school. A purpose built Comprehensive School of about 850 places to be a phased development initially to meet the demand for pupil places by 2013.
(B) Expand the existing schools. To enable growth only within the existing school sites by 850 pupil places.
(C) New 14+ learning centre. A new educational learning centre which would be purpose built to meet the demands of the future curriculum for learners from age 14. It would accommodate pupils from Year 10 upwards who would be based at either of the existing schools and attend the new Learning Centre for part of the week. A levels and other Post 16 courses would be taught at both schools and the new 14+ Learning Centre.
Consultation Response and Survey Findings
8. There were 5,000 consultation documents distributed through the Bicester secondary and primary schools; 245 responses were received (a response rate of 5%).
9. The preferred option identified in the consultation is option C, The number of respondents in favour of each option are summarised below.
10. There is a clear message from the consultation that Option C is the most preferred; however, the response rate is very low, although slightly higher than other similar consultations across the County. School Organisation
11. The Education and Inspections Act 2006, which became effective from May 2007, has significant practical and legislative implications whichever option is selected.
12. Principally, the School Organisation Committee has been abolished and the Local Authority is responsible for decision making; the first line of appeal (where the local authority does not have an interest in the school) is the local authority and the Act provides for some appeals against local authority decisions. In these cases the Schools Adjudicator will consider the proposals ‘afresh’. There is also a requirement that the provision of a new school is now subject to the new competition rules.
13. The provision of Option A (New School) would be subject to the competition arrangements, whereas Options B (expansion of existing) and C (14+ Learning Centre) would be considered as expansions of the existing arrangement and not therefore subject to competition.
14. The future arrangements in Bicester will have a significant impact on post 16 provision in the area. In 2003 the Government provided greater clarity and guidance for the reorganisation of 16-19 provision, outlining five key principles:
(a) quality – all provision for all learners should be high quality, whatever their chosen pathway;
(b) distinct 16-19 provision – all young people should be attached to a 16-19 base which will meet the particular pastoral, management and learning needs of this group;
(c) diversity to ensure curriculum breadth – well managed collaboration between popular and successful small providers will enable them to remain viable and to share and build on their particular areas of expertise;
(d) learner choice – all learners should normally have local access to provision in a range of settings and any proposals for change to this provision should take into account the views of all stakeholders;
(e) affordability, value for money and cost effectiveness – proposals for change should include how any costs and savings will lead to improved educational opportunities.
Land
15. Option A (new school) and Option C (14+ learning centre) require land to be provided by the developer and a site has been reserved for secondary school provision within the proposals for development of approximately 1,500 houses in south-west Bicester. The playing fields would be joint use and developed in cooperation with Cherwell District Council.
16. Option B provides for expansion at the existing schools. However, The Cooper School site has limited additional capacity for expansion and, whilst there is capacity to expand at Bicester Community College, there are issues over access to the site.
Curriculum Provision
17. Students need to be prepared to engage with the economic, social and cultural changes which will dominate life in the early 21st Century with new work and leisure patterns and with the rapid expansion of communication technologies. In 15 years time, most people will have at least 5 or 6 jobs/careers in their working lifetime. This will require a curriculum flexible enough to be tailored to need, with an emphasis on vocational relevance to the world of work. The national expectation is that at least 40% and up to 60% of young people will follow a diploma route.
18. The Government is placing emphasis on collaboration between schools and colleges to provide a wider range of learning pathways and personalised learning for 14-19 year olds with the introduction of 14 new diplomas, over a five year period from 2008. In March 2007, the 14-19 Partnership (which includes both the secondary schools in Bicester) learned they had passed, unconditionally, through the ‘Gateway’ and gained approval to run the first 14-19 Diploma (Engineering) in Oxfordshire from September 2008. The Diploma carries with it £1m capital funding.
19. By 2013 there will be Diplomas in 14 Lines of Learning, offering opportunities for students to follow particular vocational routes at Levels 1, 2 & 3. The initial 5 Lines of Learning, which will be available from September 2008, will be in Engineering; Construction and the Built Environment; Information Technology; Society, Health and Development; and Creative & Media.
20. Learners at Key Stage 4 in all schools in a Local Authority area must have access to Diplomas in all 14 Lines of Learning at Levels 1, 2 and 3 as appropriate. Adequate support for pupils with special educational needs will be incorporated within future proposals.
21. Each school/college can only deliver a diploma in collaboration with employers or work based learning providers since 50% of the Principal Learning has to be delivered by personnel with “real professional experience” in that line of learning and in real or realistic work environments. It is possible that some schools are able to provide these environments themselves, for example in the form of theatres, dance studios, beauty salons or recording studios. Purpose built vocational accommodation is one way of supporting this need. Transport
22. There will be increased pupil movement in future whichever option is pursued and there is also a greater expectation of future collaboration between schools and other providers which will in itself change the current status quo. However, in the case of Option C, the current movement of pupils to other centres for vocational courses will be reduced. It will be incumbent on the educational planning process to mitigate any unnecessary pupil movement.
Cost
23. A summary of the ‘orders of cost’ for each option are as follows:
[At this stage these are broad ‘orders of cost’ and subject to variation. More detailed cost analysis would be required as the selected option is developed. The project delivery cashflow will be dependent on availability of corporate and external sources of funding]
24. Initially Option B appears to be the least expensive as it requires the least new build area as much of the infrastructure as administration, changing rooms, dining facilities etc. are already in place in the existing schools. However, it is likely that additional works would need to be undertaken to the existing schools in order to make the option viable, e.g. extensions to infrastructure such as administration and dining facilities etc. This could involve substantial remodelling of the existing accommodation which may substantially increase the orders of cost set out above. A full master plan and cost appraisal would need to be undertaken if the option is to be pursued further.
25. Whichever option is selected, the Council would look to redevelop both existing schools, although it is likely that this would form part of the future Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.
26. There are currently £5.8M of developer contributions identified and it is anticipated that this figure will rise to £11M to fund an initial phase of development.
27. Under current arrangements, any increase in Post 16 take-up (i.e. the % of students opting to stay-on) may attract additional capital funding from the LSC. Deliverability
28. All of the options will require a phased approach to development. It is unlikely that developer funding would be available before 2011 at the earliest and then phased over a number of years. There would be a cost, as yet unquantified, to the additional land required in Options A and C.
· Option A – A competition would be required to be held. Sufficient land can be secured and some funding is likely to be available from developers by 2011. A phased approach to the development is likely. Further phases would be subject to additional funding e.g. Building Schools for the Future (BSF) etc.
· Option B - Does not require a competition. However, from the consultation, this is the least favourable option. A phased approach to the development is likely. Further phases would be subject to additional funding e.g. Building Schools for the Future (BSF) etc.
· Option C – This is the most popular option from the consultation and it does not require a competition. Sufficient land can be secured and some funding is likely to be available from developers by 2011. A phased approach to the development is likely. Further phases would be subject to additional funding e.g. Building Schools for the Future (BSF) etc.
RECOMMENDATIONS
29. The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:
(a) adopt Option C as the preferred option by which to respond to and meet the future needs for education in Bicester;
(b) instruct officers to carry out further work on feasibility, management and governance for Option C and report back; and
(c) authorise Officers to complete negotiations with developers to secure a sufficient and appropriate site to meet the needs of the selected option and any possible future expansion and report back on the potential implications in terms of timeline and costs of the preferred option.
JANET TOMLINSON Director for Children Young People & Families
Background papers: Consultation Document Consultation Responses
Contact Officer: Michael Mill, Strategic Manager (Property and Assets), Tel: (01865) 816458 October 2007
|