Agenda, decisions and minutes

Delegated Decisions by Cabinet Member for Children, Education & Families - Monday, 9 February 2015 12.00 pm

Venue: County Hall, Oxford

Contact: Deborah Miller  Tel: (01865) 815384; EMail: deborah.miller@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

3.

Declarations of Interest

4.

Questions from County Councillors

Any county councillor may, by giving notice to the Proper Officer by 9 am two working days before the meeting, ask a question on any matter in respect of the Cabinet Member’s delegated powers.

 

The number of questions which may be asked by any councillor at any one meeting is limited to two (or one question with notice and a supplementary question at the meeting) and the time for questions will be limited to 30 minutes in total. As with questions at Council, any questions which remain unanswered at the end of this item will receive a written response.

 

Questions submitted prior to the agenda being despatched are shown below and will be the subject of a response from the appropriate Cabinet Member or such other councillor or officer as is determined by the Cabinet Member, and shall not be the subject of further debate at this meeting. Questions received after the despatch of the agenda, but before the deadline, will be shown on the Schedule of Addenda circulated at the meeting, together with any written response which is available at that time.

 

5.

Petitions and Public Address

6.

Closure of Communication & Interaction Resource Base at Queensway School, Banbury pdf icon PDF 102 KB

Forward Plan Ref: 2014/173

Contact: Diane Cameron, School Organisation Planning Officer Tel: (01865) 816445/Sue Edwards, Service Manager – SENSS Tel: (01865) 323391

 

Report by Director for Children’s Services (CMDCEF4).

 

The proposal is to formally close the Communication & Interaction Resource Base at Queensway School in Banbury. There are no children attending this resource base.

 

This forms part of strategic changes to the services the Oxfordshire SENSS team are carrying out. The provision required has altered as technological and medical developments have progressed, and therefore the service provided will not remain the same.

 

Schools in the partnership have shown they can meet the needs of all but the most complex pupils with C&I needs in their local schools with the specialist advisory support from existing services including SENSS. There is NO reduction in budget. Services are being deployed to intervene earlier and empower schools to meet the needs of pupils now and those who will join the school in the future.

 

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to approve the closure of the Communication & Interaction Resource Base at Queensway School.

Additional documents:

7.

Closure of Communication & Interaction Resource Base at Caldecott Primary School pdf icon PDF 97 KB

Forward Plan Ref: 2014/172

Contact: Diane Cameron, School Organisation Planning Officer Tel: (01865) 816445/Sue Edwards, Service Manager – SENSS Tel: (01865) 323391

 

Report by Director for Children’s Services (CMDCEF5).

 

The proposal is to formally close the Communication & Interaction Resource Base at Caldecott Primary School in Abingdon. There are no children attending this resource base.

 

This forms part of strategic changes to the services the Oxfordshire SENSS team are carrying out. The provision required has altered as technological and medical developments have progressed, and therefore the service provided will not remain the same.

 

The lack of demand for places in the resource base over recent years and increasing demand for school places at Caldecott Primary School have prompted this recommendation. The existence of the specialist provision at St Andrew’s CE Primary School in Chinnor is meeting local needs. The impact of earlier interventions, the breadth of specialist advisory support and the increasing expertise in schools and partnerships in the local area are also factors contributing to lack of demand for specialist places at Caldecott.

 

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to approve the closure of the Communication & Interaction Resource Base at Caldecott Primary School.

Additional documents:

8.

Proposal to Expand Hook Norton CE Primary School pdf icon PDF 315 KB

Forward Plan Ref: 2014/182

Contact: Diane Cameron, School Organisation Officer, Tel: (01865) 816445

 

Report by Director for Children’s Services (CMDCEF6).

 

The proposal is to increase the formal published admission number for Hook Norton CE Primary School from 30 to 45, on a permanent basis starting from September 2015. This will eventually increase the school’s total capacity from its current 210 places in year groups Reception – Year 6 to a maximum of 315.

 

The objective of the proposal is to provide sufficient primary school places for Hook Norton and its surrounding area, enabling the Local Authority to meet its statutory duty in this regard. Until now, in most years the school’s current admission number has been sufficient to admit all catchment children. Births data indicates that this may not be the case in all future years, unless the school expands. In addition, there has been housing development permitted in the school’s catchment area, and Cherwell District Council’s Local Plan indicates that more housing may be approved for Hook Norton. The school’s current admission number of 30 will not provide sufficient school places for Hook Norton’s growing population

 

The Cabinet Member is RECOMMENDED to approve the permanent expansion of Hook Norton CE Primary School with effect from 1 September 2015.

Additional documents: