Issue - meetings

The Cabinet is asked to agree the following decision:

• Small Schools Proposals (CAB01_20/21) – A statutory consultation for proposals for small schools completed on 16 March 2020 and the attached draft decision report outlines the output of that consultation and the proposed recommendations. 

A final decision report will be published following the meeting of the Children and Young People’s Services Scrutiny Committee being held on 14 April 2020.  The Cabinet will be asked to agree the recommendations as outlined in the final report.    

Following consideration of the report, Cabinet resolved:

To support the proposals outlined in Section 2 going forward to:

1.     Issue a closure notice for Clapham and Patching C of E Primary School, Clapham, Worthing, but maintaining the building open for the Autumn half term to allow those children without suitable school places to be supported to transition to a new school should schools not return to normal opening during the summer due to the current Covid-19 situation. 

2.     Issue closure notice for Rumboldswhyke C of E Infant School, Chichester, but maintaining the building open for the Autumn half term to allow those children without suitable school places to be supported to transition to a new school should schools not return to normal opening during the summer due to the current Covid-19 situation. 

3.     Request County Council Officers to continue to work with Governors of Stedham Primary School and Harting CE Primary School to progress the Federation Action Plan towards a hard federation by January 2021.

4.     Request County Council Officers to continue to work with Governors to progress proposals for the federation of Compton and Up Marden CE Primary School, Compton with an appropriate partner.

5.     Issue prescribed alteration notices for the relocation of Warninglid Primary School, Warninglid, Haywards Heath to a new site in Pease Pottage Crawley by September 2021 (subject to developers completing in June 2021) and implement the proposals submitted by Warninglid Primary School and at least one other partner to federate. 

The Call-in deadline is 1 May 2020.

4.1     The Cabinet considered a report by the Director of Education and Skills.

4.2     The report was introduced by Cllr Nigel Jupp, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills who outlined the journey of the decision and the proposals to be considered by Cabinet. He explained that the proposals would be based on the aims of the School Effectiveness Strategy and were responsive to the needs of local communities.

4.3     The Cabinet Member advised that the proposals relating to Warninglid, Stedham and Compton and Up Marden had been endorsed by the Children and Young People’s Services Scrutiny Committee (CYPSSC) on 14 April 2020. The proposals relating to Rumboldswhyke and Clapham and Patching were not endorsed by the CYPSSC and Cabinet was asked to reconsider those proposals in light of the Committee’s comments.

4.4     The Cabinet Member advised that in view of the current public health restrictions, if parents had not been able to identify an alternative school for their children, the buildings at both Rumboldswhyke and Clapham and Patching should remain open for some of the autumn term. The Education and Skills service, Special Education Needs Assessment Team (SENAT) and specialist teachers would support families with school transition.

4.5     Cllr David Barling, Chairman of the Children and Young People’s Services Scrutiny Committee reiterated that the Committee did not support the proposals in relation to Rumboldswhyke and Clapham and Patching schools. He asked that the process be held to allow Cabinet to reflect on other options.

4.6     Cllr Michael Jones, Leader of the Labour Group, advised the proposals were opposed by the Labour group. He suggested that the current situation had already disrupted children’s learning, that the proposals seemed driven by financial considerations and that the Cabinet should delay the closure proposals.

4.7     Cllr James Walsh, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group invited Cabinet to consider the academy proposals for Rumboldswhyke and Clapham and Patching and reflect on the views of the scrutiny committee.

4.8     Cabinet Members welcomed the proposal to extend the use of the buildings at Rumboldswhyke and Clapham and Patching in the context of Covid-19. Cabinet felt that the process had been extensive and reflective to all representations. The Leader stated that to delay would leave the schools and families concerned in an indeterminate state.

4.9     Resolved – that Cabinet supports the proposals outlined in Section 2 going forward to:

1.     Issue a closure notice for Clapham and Patching C of E Primary School, Clapham, Worthing, but maintaining the building open for the Autumn half term to allow those children without suitable school places to be supported to transition to a new school should schools not return to normal opening during the summer due to the current Covid-19 situation. 

2.     Issue closure notice for Rumboldswhyke C of E Infant School, Chichester, but maintaining the building open for the Autumn half term to allow those children without suitable school places to be supported to transition to a new school should schools not return to normal opening during the summer  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3

Report by the Director of Education and Skills.

Following a consultation on options for five rural and small schools in November 2019, a Task and Finish Group met to consider the outcome and the proposals for each of the five schools. This was then considered by the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Committee on 9 January 2020, prior to Cabinet taking a decision to undertake a statutory consultation on specific proposals for the five schools.

The statutory consultation completed on 16 March 2020 and the attached draft decision report outlines the output of the consultation and the proposed recommendations for those schools.

The Committee is asked to comment on the attached draft Cabinet decision report and supporting appendices, and provide comment to the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills,prior to the formal decision being taken by Cabinet. 

3.1     The Committee considered a report by the Director of Education and Skills. The report was introduced by Councillor Nigel Jupp, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills and Paul Wagstaff, Director of Education and Skills who highlighted the following points:

·       The process began 18 months ago with the revised School Effectiveness Strategy 2018-22, which was approved by full council and endorsed by the Committee.

·       The Education and Skills directorate commenced consultations with schools, staff, parents, governors and supporters of the five schools concerned. Discussion had also taken place with MPs, local members and the CYPSSC Task and Finish Group (TFG).

·       The proposals for each school varied based upon their circumstances and were as follows:

Ø  Progress the federation plan for Stedham Primary school with Harting C of E Primary School

Ø  Progress proposals to secure a federation of Compton and Up Marden CE Primary school with one or more schools

Ø  Warninglid Primary School to relocate to Pease Pottage, Crawley by 2021

Ø  Issue closure notices for Clapham and Patching C of E Primary school

Ø  Issue closure notices for Rumboldswhyke C of E Primary school.

·       A consultation period for the above proposals ceased on 16 March 2020. 711 responses were received, with additional input from traffic surveys, community risk assessments and a peer review.

·       Whilst there had been calls to delay the closure decisions for Rumboldswhyke and Clapham and Patching schools in view of the current Covid-19 situation, this would serve to extend anxiety, see declining enrolment and reductions in staff.

·       The Education and Skills directorate and Cabinet Member recognised the difficulties faced by these prospective changes, particularly in respect of proposed closure and would work hard to ensure a smooth transition. The service would work carefully with parents to identify alternative schools for children and ensure that any choices were made in a measured way.

·       For schools facing possible closure, there was a possibility of keeping school buildings open for children with complex needs to both minimize disruption and ease the process of transition to a new school.

·       Interest had been shown towards Rumboldswhyke and Clapham and Patching schools by trusts to academise. The County Council had the statutory responsibility for school place planning, ensuring adequate pupil places, avoiding surplus provision and negative impacts on existing schools.

·       The offer for Rumboldswhyke was to academise with Bishop Luffa school creating a new Primary school. This however would create surplus places at Key Stage 2 (KS2) which were not required.

• For Clapham and Patching, an offer had been made to academise the school by the South Downs Education Trust, however the Regional Schools Commissioner (RSC) would not accept a proposal to academise or issue an academy order until WSCC had completed its review of whether the school was viable or not.
• Schools causing concern guidance identified that Clapham and Patching CE Primary was unable to fill from the local community owing to few primary school age children in the area and costly house prices.   

3.2     The Committee considered a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3