Decision Maker: Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Learning and Skills (Cllr Jacquie Russell)
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Is Key decision?: Yes
Is subject to call in?: Yes
Hawthorns Primary and Springfield Infant and Nursery schools in Worthing, Maidenbower Infant and Nursery, Brook Infant and Nursery and St Margaret’s CE Primary schools in Crawley and Slinfold CE Primary school near Billingshurst, are all schools that cater for children aged four to eleven, or four to seven, with onsite nurseries or pre-schools for two-, three- and four-year-olds. It is proposed that the schools incorporate the current pre-school nursery provision within the age range of the maintained primary or infant schools, extending the age range by two years so they serve two- to eleven-year-olds, or two to seven-year-olds.
This age range change would assist in simplifying the transfer of Hawthorns Primary school to the Schoolsworks Academy Trust which is due to take over the sponsorship of the school as an academy, from February 2024. The other schools are not intending to academise at present, but by regularising the age range, the process will be simplified should any of the schools wish to do so in future.
The process to change the age range of a school needs to be undertaken in accordance with the Department for Education’s statutory guidance, which consists of a number of stages. The first stage, to undertake an informal public consultation, was completed during the early autumn and feedback received indicated that, overall, more respondents supported than objected to the proposed change of age range at all schools. Therefore, it was decided to progress the proposals to the next stage; in November 2023, formal statutory proposal notices were published for a four-week period seeking any additional representations on the proposed change of age range at the six schools. One representation was received within this timeframe, for St Margaret’s CE Primary, which was in support, therefore it is proposed to progress to change the age range at the six schools from January 2024.
The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Learning and Skills has approved:
(1)The change of age range at Maidenbower Infant and Nursery and Brook Infant and Nursery Schools in Crawley, and Springfield Infant and Nursery in Worthing, from four to seven-years of age, to two to seven-years of age, to come into effect from January 2024.
(2)The change of age range at Hawthorns Primary in Worthing, St Margaret’s CE Primary School in Crawley, and Slinfold CE Primary School, from four to eleven-years of age, to two to eleven-years of age to come into effect from January 2024.
None
Publication date: 14/12/2023
Date of decision: 14/12/2023
Effective from: 28/12/2023
Accompanying Documents: