Sheffield City Council APPENDIX 2 Children & Young People’s Service

Report on the Abbeydale Grange Consultation

Summary of Feedback and Responses

1. Introduction

At its meeting on 8 July 2009, Cabinet agreed that a consultation should be carried out on a proposal to close Abbeydale Grange School.

The consultation process took place between 14 September and 23 October 2009.

The consultation was with:

• Parents and carers, governors, staff and pupils of Abbeydale Grange and its feeder schools; • Members of the local communities; • The governing bodies of schools that would be affected by the proposals; • Other interested parties.

The purpose of the consultation was for the Council to:

• Explain the reasons for proposing to close Abbeydale Grange; • Set out the implications of closure for all stakeholders; • Consider whether there are alternative options; • Listen to the views and comments of those affected by the proposal; • Record responses and report back to Cabinet Members.

The purpose of this document is to summarise the responses recorded in the consultation. The document will form the main record of the consultation for Cabinet to consider. It will also be made available to those who took part in the consultation and more generally via the website www.sheffield.gov.uk/abbeydalegrange .

2. Responses from Key Groups

In this section, the viewpoints expressed by key groups in the consultation are summarised so as to give a picture of the response of different stakeholders.

1) Governors

The Governors of Abbeydale Grange met with officers on the evening of 24 September. A small delegation of governors attended to give the views of the full group. A full written response to the consultation was received in the final week of the consultation. The key points made by the Abbeydale Grange governors were that:

• the Council’s assessment of Abbeydale Grange’s current performance and the assertion that pupils would do better at other schools was impossible to prove on the basis of the available data (analysis provided by Sean Demack, Senior Lecturer in Social Statistics at Sheffield Hallam University was included in their submission) • GCSE performance will rise above floor targets between 2011 and 2015. • Disruption of transfer would result in worsened attainment overall and particular difficulties for certain vulnerable pupils. • Parental preference would improve with improved results and new material investment.

3 • The opportunity for a multicultural education would be limited if Abbeydale Grange were to close. • The timescale for closure is too short and that a slower phasing would be preferable if closure were implemented. • The vision for transformation would be a Cooperative Trust, partnerships with FE and employers and greater community involvement, enhanced vocational education, creating a centre of excellence for migrant students and their families.

Written responses were also received from the Governing Bodies of King Ecgbert, Silverdale and High Storrs schools. These responses concerned the potential to offer places in Years 8, 9 and 10 in September 2010 to pupils that might transfer to Abbeydale Grange and the possible future reallocation of the catchment areas.

A response was received from Totley All Saints Primary school expressing concern that increased admissions from catchment at King Ecgbert might reduce the scope for non- catchment pupils attending Totley All Saints to get into King Ecgbert.

2) Parents

The views of parents formed the substantive response to the consultation and are reported under the key themes section.

A core group of parents of pupils at Abbeydale Grange made a strong contribution to the consultation through e-mail correspondence and attendance at meetings. 16 e- mails were received to the consultation inbox from parents who were clearly in the Abbeydale Grange catchment area, in support of the school, and opposing the closure proposal. Those involved with the FLAGs group of parents (Forging Links with Abbeydale Grange) were particularly active in the consultation and were present at several meetings as well as responding by e-mail. The majority view of these parents is that they have made an explicit choice for Abbeydale Grange, its values, its style of provision, its ethos and its diversity. Their children are often described as being happy, settled and achieving well. The proposal to close represents a withdrawal of choice for those parents and a loss of a provision that they regard as very special. The closure would impact on the continuity of their child’s education and be potentially disruptive.

Through the smaller targeted meetings we have also heard from parents of pupils attending Abbeydale Grange from refugee and BME backgrounds who feel very strongly that the school provides their children with the extra support they need, particularly for their language development.

The response of parents of pupils in the feeder schools was more wide-ranging. A relatively small number of prospective parents were supportive of Abbeydale Grange and were intending their children to go there. There was support from some who attended the meeting at Sharrow Primary School. At the school gates some prospective parents were generally supportive of the ideal of a good local school but were not confident in Abbeydale Grange or thought that other South West schools were preferable. It was noticeable that where there was a trend in siblings attending other schools, parents wanted that to continue. Some parents put forward the idea of closure as the best option and others said they were worried about the impact on other schools.

4 32 e-mails were received from parents of pupils from the King Ecgbert area stressing the impact on their schools and raising the concerns that some non-catchment pupils in the feeder schools might be displaced.

3) Staff

Members of staff of Abbeydale Grange were invited to put forward their views during the consultation in a meeting on 15 October with Sonia Sharp, Executive Director and Cllr Andrew Sangar, Cabinet Member for Children & Lifelong Learning. Staff had previously had the opportunity to express their views in a number of question and answer sessions with Council officers during the review period. Some senior members of staff also attended and contributed to the Community Liaison Group meetings.

Staff understandably expressed opposition to the proposed closure but also a heartfelt sadness and anxiety about the situation of the school. The key points made were, in summary:

• the achievements of the school are not fully recognised or understood, particularly with regard to pupils with additional needs; • that the Council’s ongoing lack of support has reinforced a negative impression of and lack of confidence in the school; and, • that the current trajectory of improvement is sufficient to secure the future of the school, particularly if combined with investment from the Council.

4) Pupils

A group of pupils from the Student Forum met with Sonia Sharp on 14 October to put forward their views and questions. Pupils highlighted the unfairness of the negativity about Abbeydale Grange and illustrated the good things that they value about the school. Their main concerns were about having to move to another school and being split up from friends.

5 3. Responses by Theme

In this section the comments stakeholders during the consultation period. For ease of reporting, responses in all formats (e-mail, letter, records of meetings) have been analysed and the key points ordered under themes. The full text of responses is included in the appendices. In order to report the issues as accurately as possible, the reporting below includes direct quotations from the responses.

The first part of the report concerns issues to do with the proposal to close and its impact on those directly affected. The related issue of the proposed reallocation of the catchment areas is dealt with separately in the next section.

1) Support for Abbeydale Grange and Opposition to Closure

I feel that those who live in the Abbeydale area deserve a good local school and if the school closes then local children will not have this and they will have to travel further afield. The school has suffered from appalling local government management over the last twenty years and now would be a time for local government to be brave and to invest money and time in the school in order to make it a more popular school for local parents for decades to come. [e-mail]

With a strong leader, and access to appropriate resources, the school could become a resounding success – and a place where I would be happy to send my youngest child when she is old enough. [e-mail]

I really, really want to stay at Abbeydale. Please don’t close my school.[e-mail]

I would prefer for the Council to make this school work for the benefit of the community who need a good secondary school near to where they live and not spread the problem out. [e- mail]

I think closure is an awful idea from the heads of council members who have their eye on what could be done with the land to create the most cash from it at the expense of the children and families associated with the school.[e-mail]

My son is in his final year there doing GCSEs. He has thrived. Young people at AGS from so great a variety of backgrounds have flourished. It is not a fair and accurate summary to say AGS has had its day and has not reached the mark. [e-mail]

We have students who have come from war torn countries, families who have gone through terrible times, families who need stability. Can you still close a school who offer this? Can you close that refuge for those families and put them at risk of being split up? [e-mail]

In the knowledge of all the things you’ve heard during the consultation process and all the wonderful things the school does, perhaps your officers have got it wrong. You came to this view about Myers Grove and Wisewood, perhaps the same has happened again. [staff meeting]

I am against the local school closing. I went there 20 years ago. I’ve heard some uncomplimentary things about it and probably wouldn’t send my children there, but closing it is just moving the problems elsewhere. [school gates]

I think it is an inherently bad ideal [to close Abbeydale Grange] as it is a local service – closing it doesn’t fit with the push to provide services locally. [school gates]

6 It’s a pity – I’d like to see it stay open and improved for the benefit of the local community. [school gates]

I came from Yemen four years, this school has been very good for me. Me and my sister are alone in the country and the school has been good for me. My life would be harder without AGS. [pupil]

I chose to come here and it’s like a family. I don’t want to go to another school. Why do you want to split a family up? [pupil]

The children cannot be expected to reach the level the Government expect when they arrive with no English. But the children have improved and AGS is very positive for me. After two years I can see that our children have come on a lot. The teachers have set up breakfast clubs and evening support – AGS is a good stepping stone. [Burmese Refugee (Karen) Group]

The teachers are very dutiful. Despite its low exam results and low popularity with parents it works very well for our children and these are not good reasons to close a school [Firth Park Drop-in Session]

It would be a loss to the [Somali] community it were to close. [Somali meeting]

To say that Abbeydale Grange is a failing school is an insult to the school and pupils and makes me angry. How can you say it is a failing school when students are doing so well. The GCSE figure have risen by 7% since last year. [Community Liaison Group]

It feels like what people want is a good local school that they can have confidence in. Closing Abbeydale Grange would rid us of the physical resources to do that. We want that local resource. [Feeder Meeting]

Abbeydale Grange helps to strengthen the community. If you give it up it will have a far reaching effect on the community. [Feeder Meeting]

We agree that Abbeydale Grange needs to be improved and results higher but it can only happen if the Council put in tough measures to improve it [Feeder Meeting]

The majority of people that attended the consultation meetings, mainly the one at Abbeydale Grange and the Community Liaison Groups, were against the proposal to close Abbeydale Grange. Typically, these were parents whose children would be impacted by closure and staff from the school. The general response from this group is that they feel Abbeydale Grange is a setting in which their child is happy and can achieve to their full potential. They are supporters of the ethos and values of Abbeydale Grange, they value its pastoral care and the diversity of its pupil population, factors that may have contributed to their choice of school.

The loss of specialised support for pupils with low levels of English and special needs was often cited as a reason against closure. The level and quality of support from Abbeydale Grange for pupils with language needs was described as being particularly highly valued by some as a city-wide resource. Parents from the BME and refugee groups that contributed to the consultation, particularly during the small scale targeted meetings for the Burmese and Somali groups, valued this support and were not confident that any other school or setting could provide an equally good level of support. There was a sense that Abbeydale Grange provides much needed stability for pupils

7 with high levels of need and who may come from disrupted family backgrounds. The school was described as a ‘family’ that might be ‘split up’ by closure.

There was praise from respondents for the good qualities of Abbeydale Grange that would be lost through closure. As an example, the high standards achieved in drama were cited. Throughout the consultation there was praise for the hard-working and committed staff, a resource that would be seen to be lost through closure. There was a feeling by some that the judgements made by Ofsted and the Council about standards at Abbeydale Grange were unduly negative and there was a desire to highlight the rate of recent progress and improvement. There was a view that the Council had ‘failed’ Abbeydale Grange over time particularly through an ongoing lack of support and commitment and that this had been partly responsible for the reduction in confidence in the school from the local community.

A key strand in the argument against closure was the potential loss of a local school. A frequent response at the school gates meetings was that parents would have liked the choice of a good local school (although many felt that due to the circumstances of Abbeydale Grange, that choice wasn’t available). The concern was the loss of a local school as a resource for the local community, and that once gone it would be lost forever. This was related to the issue of distance to the alternative South West schools, which some respondents, particularly from the Sharrow area, felt were well outside their community. For some, Abbeydale Grange had not connected well in recent years with its catchment community and that more could have been done to engage. There was also nostalgia evident from those that had attended the school in the past, who felt it should not be closed but some of whom were still not sufficiently confident to see it as a prospective school for their children.

There were some respondents, typically parents of pupils in other local secondary schools, who cited a perceived negative impact on neighbouring schools as a reason against closure. Around half of the 32 e-mails from parents in the King Ecgbert area stated a clear opposition to the closure on this basis.

2) Support for Closure

I think it’s better to close it and redistribute resources. [e-mail]

As a professional working in the field of widening participation, I feel strongly that every child should be given the very best chance of reaching their full potential, whatever their background. I have concerns that it will take a very long time for Abbeydale Grange to deliver on this aim and many in the catchment area will not be prepared to take a risk with their child’s future until considerable and sustained improvements can be demonstrated, especially if better options exist. Children at Abbeydale Grange are entitled to a good education and should not be expected to wait until any process of improvement through federation occurs. I therefore believe that the pragmatic solution of closure is the only option to give all students in the catchment area a reasonable chance of acquiring a robust education now, not in a few years when the dust settles. [e-mail]

I think that closing Abbeydale Grange is the best decision to make; with funding used to provide extra places for the students in schools which are not failing. This would provide them with a far better education. [e-mail]

By closing it down it would remove the worry that they [my children] would lose out in the scramble to go to a school of our choice and end up at a substandard failing school. [e-mail]

8 I believe that sadly there is no viable alternative to closing the school down as its reputation among parents (rightly or wrongly) is very poor, and its problems viewed as endemic. This has created a vicious circle.[e-mail]

If the school were to remain open we do not feel that it would improve and certainly not in the small timescale to 2011. It has had several new starts under a number of heads and we have no reason to think that any future new start would be any different. [e-mail]

It’s a shame it’s got to this stage. It’s not the fault of the children there, but it’s not fit for purpose at the moment in terms of results or buildings. [school gates]

Sad to lose a local school but can see the arguments for closure [school gates]

Abbeydale Grange has been on the ropes for years now – it will be difficult for the school to succeed if local people won’t support it. The proposals made seem reasonable. [school gates]. As a parent I feel that the quality of education at AG would have been poor in comparison to many of the other schools in the area. I feel at this moment in time that I cannot support AG [Feeder Meeting]

There was support for closure from 23 of the 105 e-mails to the consultation inbox, mainly from local parents who do not have children at Abbeydale Grange. Some responses in favour of closure were heard at the school gates meetings and at the meetings at the feeder schools, but it was not a major feature of the face-to-face part of the consultation.

The key points made by those in favour of closure are that parents see the option of a place at Abbeydale Grange as a risk where ‘better’ alternatives currently exist, that the lack of confidence that local parents have in the school is unlikely to turn round, and that the resources at Abbeydale Grange would be better spent elsewhere. Most responses advocating closure tended to describe the situation as ‘a shame’ or that it would be ‘sad’ to lose a local school.

3) Impact of Closure

Closure would cause far more difficulties, not least the disruption for the students. We chose Abbeydale Grange because it is our local school, my daughter can walk to school. [e-mail]

I am working hard at Abbeydale and I have learnt a lot. I hope to get A’s and B’s, maybe a few A*s in my GCSEs and I feel that I could only achieve the best I can do if I were to stay at Abbeydale. [e-mail]

Pupils will struggle to settle and pupils in other schools may well be unwelcoming [staff meeting]

Parents who have larger families won’t be able to send their children to the same school and will sent all over the city. This isn’t helpful for migrant families. At least they get this at Abbeydale Grange. [focus group]]

There are many long-standing and loyal staff at Abbeydale Grange. Even during this difficult period, there has been hardly any turn-over of staff. This skilled and loyal resource will be wasted. [focus group]].

After school clubs will be harder to do at a school if it is further away, especially on dark nights. Parents need to be able to access groups and attend parent’s evenings. It will become difficult

9 to engage parents at other secondary schools as they may not be willing to travel. [focus group]

I worry that if it closes there will be extra traffic on the roads as children won’t be able to walk to the other schools.[school gates]

If people were relocated, groups of friends will be split up, this will make people unhappy and this will affect their learning [pupils]

How are we going to guarantee that the Year 10s who stay on will get the high quality teaching if the school closed? [pupils]

We came from extremely difficult circumstances and are trying to cope with being in a new country, get new jobs, housing, schools – this would be another difficult burden for parents [Burmese Refugee (Karen) Group]

My child is currently in a class of 25. If he is moved to High Storrs, he could be in a class size of around 37. I see this as a severe compromise of his education. [AG Parents Meeting]

I have a special needs child and if he moves school he will become aggressive and disruptive and I know that there are parents who are in a similar situation at this school. These pupils will be excluded because they won’t be able to cope and won’t get the support, whereas AG knows how to deal with these kids. [AG Parent Meeting]

We need to stop teenagers from Sharrow from just going all over the city to bring them back to the community and stop gangs from forming [Feeder Meeting]

Pupils with very traumatic backgrounds would be very disrupted by an interruption to their education. [AG Governors]

BME pupils moved to other schools could get lower grades and reduce the levels of attainment at other schools. [AG Governors]

All of the different strands of responses about the impact that closure would have on pupils, families and staff have been summarised under this heading.

The main point made by parents and pupils about the practical impact of closure is that there would be disruption to the continuity of their education by having to move to another school. This was expressed in terms of impact on achievement, emotional well- being and the potential to be split up from friends. The impact of disruption has been described as more acute for those pupils and families with higher level of needs. A parent of a child with special needs spoke of the possibility that their child would not be able to cope with such a move. The Burmese Group described their struggles to cope with living in a new country and that moving school would be an additional difficulty. The Governors of Abbeydale Grange felt that pupils from traumatic backgrounds would be most disrupted by an interruption to their education.

There were concerns expressed by parents of Abbeydale Grange pupils about larger class sizes at neighbouring secondary schools to which their children might transfer, and whether this would actually provide a better quality education. Representatives of Abbeydale Grange tended to be of the view that BME pupils would achieve lower grades at other schools. A concern was also expressed about whether larger family groups and BME groups would be split up.

10 The distance to alternative schools was mentioned by a few respondents, although it was not a major theme. The easy walking distance to Abbeydale Grange had been a preference for some but was very important to others who would otherwise find it difficult to pay for bus fares. The impact on local traffic of an increase in journeys to school was mentioned.

4) Availability of places

I listened with interest to the proposals and false promises as to which school my child would be transferred to in the event of closure. The next day I received an appeal decision from the Education appeal panel [which rejected my appeal]. [e-mail]

My biggest worry is getting a school place for my children in the local area. How are already oversubscribed school in the area going to cope with the increase in demand that closure will bring and what will it mean for class sizes? [e-mail]

Can you say that you have got the additional places in the local schools right here and now tonight? .If you can’t confirm that there are extra places, then your proposal has no credibility [AG Parents Meeting]

Other schools are full, how are you going to get us places at schools that are full? [pupils]

If you have got powers [to admit pupils as the admissions authority] why invoke them for only 10 places and not use them to reassure us that our children have got places in the nearest schools [AG Parents Meeting]

The ethnic minority population is growing and High Storrs and Silverdale will not be able to accommodate them all in future. [Community Liaison Group]

We know the birth rate is growing. Will there be enough places in the long-term? [Feeder Meeting]

The statistics suggest there won’t be enough places for [future] catchment pupils. I haven’t read any figures which show that the proposals add up. [Feeder Meeting]

I think we need the school places in the area and therefore it would be a bad idea to close the school. [school gates]

There was scepticism from parents of pupils at Abbeydale Grange in the years proposed to transfer about the offer of alternative places at neighbouring schools. Some had been involved in appeals for other schools and had knowledge of the statement those schools had used in the defence of their appeals. This made it difficult for those parents to believe the Council’s assertions about the offer of places. The fact that the Council could not confirm the number of places at each school or guarantee which parents would gain places at which schools was disconcerting for a number of parents who felt that they had not been given sufficient information during the consultation.

There was also concern expressed about the sufficiency of secondary places in the area in the future without Abbeydale Grange. The point was made at the Sharrow Primary meeting that the Council had not made information available that would reassure parents about this. There was a concern that the Council may have only planned for the short term and not taken account of the growing birth rate nor the

11 growing BME population in the South West of the city.

5) Size of school

Maintaining one small secondary school is, in my opinion, of great value for children who thrive there, but would sink in the bigger secondaries. [e-mail]

The size of the school is such that it cannot attract the calibre of staff needed for such a demanding school and also as it is so small it cannot offer the breadth of curriculum needed. [e-mail]

Raising achievement will take time and a lot of investment, something that Abbeydale doesn’t have with the roll falling every year. Funding a school with such a low intake is surely not value for money. [e-mail]

The viability of the school may be eased if the information was not poisoned by the Local Authority [staff meeting]

Abbeydale Grange is a small community based school; both teachers and students know each other in a human way.[focus group]

Abbeydale Grange is a small school and we all know each other. This will be lost in new schools where pupils won’t know each other. This will impact on community cohesion. [focus group]

It’s our local school and my daughter goes there. We are happy because its small but standards are not as good as we would like. We can’t get another place. [school gates]

It’s not a viable school. We didn’t choose Abbeydale Grange. With the small numbers that go there it wouldn’t have much effect on other schools if it closed. [school gates]

Putting students into other bigger schools defies the benefits of smaller schools [pupils]

The pupils in the Integrated Resource will struggle very much in schools of 900 – 1000. We are very concerned about the future of these pupils [staff meeting]

We like AGS because it is small and we all know each other. The ones who speak better English can help each other and we don’t want to break up these friendship groups. [Burmese Refugee (Karen) Group]

An integrated resource for MLD pupils is much better placed in a smaller school. [Feeder Meeting]

At the current size, even though small, Abbeydale Grange is able to provide a good curriculum. [AG Governors]

Some of the debate in favour of retaining Abbeydale Grange centred on its size. A number of respondents in the consultation, both parents and pupils, stated the view that its smaller size was beneficial for maintaining relationships with staff and peers. The point that pupils and staff “all know each other” was made and contrasted with the point that pupils might “feel lost in larger schools”. The benefits of the smaller school were seen as more acute for those pupils with special needs and with language needs.

The alternative view that the small size of Abbeydale Grange is a disadvantage was also made by some respondents. Typically this comment was linked to the viability of 12 the school and its capacity to improve with lower levels of resources. Respondents making this point were generally supportive of the closure proposal.

6) Parental preference

In my opinion, the aggressive and ill-informed manner in which this school is attacked by some people is, in itself, a very strong reason for supporting AGS and its pupils. [e-mail]

I would strongly resist the option of sending them [to Abbeydale Grange] in its current incarnation [e-mail]

I admit that the avoidance of Abbeydale Grange played a huge part in my selection of primary school preferences [e-mail]

If Abbeydale Grange was a successful school with a good reputation, it would not be threatened with closure. Once a school loses the confidence of it’s catchment, it cannot remain open indefinitely. [e-mail]

Are you convinced that should standards rise across the board, parents would not change their preferences? Is it not worthwhile giving the school a change to do this?[staff meeting]

There has never been a serious intention on the part of the LA to make us more attractive to local parents. Earl Marshall was able to reinvent itself, Sharrow Primary had the same issue, we have £14m that should be spent here.[staff meeting]

Changing the perception of the school will help with parental choice. The school needs to sell the ‘good news’ stories and get positive messages into the public arena. We should also be encouraging Abbeydale Grange parents to pass on the good news. It is possible to change public perception, this has been done at other schools [focus group]

The standards aren’t good at Abbeydale – its best for my children to go to another school. [school gates]

It’s a shame that not enough local pupils go to Abbeydale Grange. We went to have a look, we didn’t just go on reputation. We thought that behaviour of the students was not good and there were no enough English speakers. So my children went to King Ecgbert. [school gates]

It would be a very big challenge to try to get Abbeydale Grange on an equal footing with the other local school. [school gates]

Other schools have more support from the Council and so parents send their children here rather than to Abbeydale Grange. [Somali Meeting]

Silverdale is not popular amongst Somalis. There is a perception of trouble and behaviour problems with Silverdale pupils. High Storrs is perceived as not being flexible or accommodating to Somali students. Somali students do not feel encouraged there. Travel issues also make this an unpopular choice. [Somali Meeting]

Abbeydale Grange is preferred by people who have children that need support {e.g. children for whom English is their second language)

The Council should be tackling the prejudice of parents that judge Abbeydale Grange without even looking. [Community Liaison Group]

I would love to send my child to a local school as a preference, but the big problem AG has got

13 is getting people like us to say we want to send out child to AG as a first choice for positive reasons [Feeder Meeting] I did attend a parent’s open evening at AG and with the intention of keeping an open mind. However, my experience was very negative and the fact that it has moved out of the LEA family of school to become a foundation was also a negative for me. [Feeder Meeting]

Lack of investment has been a really key issue that has sent signals to the local community that the Council does not support the school – many parents have been put off from fear of closure [AG Governors]

The mix of pupils and cultures at Abbeydale Grange is attractive to a certain group of local (middle-class) residents. There are more parents in the area that could be ‘tipped’ in favour of applying to Abbeydale Grange. [AG Governors]

The other schools in the area are all successful and there is no reason to ‘risk’ your child’s education with an unknown. [e-mail]

The issues affecting parental preference were a main topic of debate in the consultation, reflecting the fact that the Council had identified the current low levels of parental preference from the local area as being one of its main concerns about Abbeydale Grange. Many of the participants in the consultation chose to comment on parental preference and the factors that influence it.

The impact of Abbeydale Grange’s “reputation” was noted in the consultation. Some Abbeydale Grange staff and parents suggested a tendency for local parents to make decisions based on this reputation rather than finding out about or visiting Abbeydale Grange. A few parents at the school gates meetings countered this by saying that they had looked at Abbeydale Grange but still chosen another school. Some respondents thought that it was the Council’s job to tackle this “prejudice”. The perceived “lack of support” by the Council was claimed by some respondents, particularly those that attended meetings, to be one reason behind the low level of parental preference for Abbeydale Grange. This was a point that came across at the two Community Liaison Group meetings, the Sharrow Primary Meeting, and at the Abbeydale Grange Governors Meeting. The lack of support was said to be evidenced by the fact that the Council had put other schools ahead of Abbeydale Grange in the Building Schools for the Future Programme. The situation was often compared to Fir Vale or Sharrow Primary where a rebuild was seen to have restored the confidence of local parents. There was a sense that the Council did have a role in promoting Abbeydale Grange to parents and that changing the perception of the school was a key aspect in securing its future.

Relatively few comments on parental preference related specifically to standards. Staff made the point at their meeting, that should standards rise, parents would be likely to change their preferences. Some parents of pupils in the feeder schools mentioned low results as having influenced their preferences and some respondents referred to other schools as being “better” or more successful. Respondents often described low confidence as a sense of risk in choosing Abbeydale Grange. There was a clear indication that some parents of pupils in the feeder schools would seek to avoid a place at Abbeydale Grange. Most respondents at the school gates were more reflective and were generally in favour of a “good local school” if it were an option.

14 Some respondents commented on the number of pupils at Abbeydale Grange without English as a first language as impacting on their preference of school, but it was also pointed out that the diversity of the school was a positive factor for some middle-class residents in the area. It was also said that parents do make a positive choice for Abbeydale Grange because it encourages and supports pupils with language needs, in the perception of some, more so than surrounding schools.

7) Challenge faced by Abbeydale Grange

Although the school caters well for those coming to the city during the year etc it has to be better that they are educated within the communities where they live avoiding bus travel and enabling better community cohesion. [e-mail]

The Ofsted report putting the school into special measures merely vindicates what I and many others knew that there was no effective leadership [e-mail]

This year has seen a rise in the GCSE passes A to Cs and it is only the first year of being a National Challenge school. Ofsted are pleased with the progress that the school has made to get itself out of special measures. The staff and pupils are dedicated to improving standards, and feel that they are not being given the chance to prove themselves. [e-mail]

Our children may suffer if the teacher’s time is having to be spent on communicating as well as teaching. [e-mail] I suspect we offer a broader and better curriculum for our children than the so-called ‘better’ schools would. .[staff meeting]

[We would] question the facts on which the decision has been made. Abbeydale Grange is the only school which is making significant progress with BME communities. [focus group]

I would like to see the admissions process adjusted to ensure that parents must send their child to the nearest secondary school. I believe that the majority of the problems at Abbeydale Grange have been caused by difficulties in managing the number of different cultures attending the school. I think that more English people should attend the school. [school gates]

Ofsted doesn’t look at the bigger picture or take into account those arriving half way through the year. [Feeder Meeting]

Can’t the mix of the school be improved? Abbeydale Grange are concentrating on non- English speakers and this is affecting results.[Feeder Meeting]

The extent to which Abbeydale Grange faces specific challenges was commented at various points in the consultation and in arguments both for and against closure. There was an emphasis from many parents of pupils at Abbeydale Grange and representatives of the school that its performance is underestimated by the Council and Ofsted, and that the standard performance measures do not demonstrate a true picture. It was felt that there was a “bigger picture” to the achievements of Abbeydale Grange school and its staff, particularly with regard to the provision for and progress of newly arrived pupils, which was overlooked and not “taken into account”.

The contrary view, expressed by some in the consultation, was that there was too much emphasis at Abbeydale Grange on the teaching of pupils with English as an additional language. A perception from some feeder school parents was that this could reduce the

15 level of resources spent on children with English as their first language and could affect levels of attainment.

8) Equalities

The few children who go to Abbeydale Grange are usually those whose parents are least able to deal with the education system either due to lack of education themselves or challenging circumstances. It is not fair that those children are getting less choice and opportunitiesThat is exactly why Abbeydale should shut so that all students in this community regardless of their class or race have equal access to those schools. [e-mail]

I think closing Abbeydale Grange is a good thing as it would promote greater racial integration when the pupils who would have attended Abbeydale Grange are dispersed among other schools. [school gates]

It’s a shame it can’t be made into a specialist school for children with English as an additional language and children new to the country. The idea of integration is good, but it doesn’t happen in practice [school gates]

This school has the largest BME population in the South West. It has been ignored over the last few years and it may close. Is this racism? [pupils]

What about refugee and multi racial children? The AG support was complimented in their Ofsted report. How will this expertise be maintained in the community? [Feeder Meeting]

Closure would reduce social cohesion and increase segregation, but without gain. More mainly white/asian pupils would go to other South West schools and the other ethnic groups would be spread out in other schools [AG Governors]

The South West has predominantly white, academic schools – closure would reduce diversity and choice in the area. [AG Governors]

Issues to do with equalities were an underlying theme of some of the debate in the consultation. Some commented that they thought the provision at Abbeydale Grange to be an example of ‘inequality’ with pupils getting less opportunity to access ‘better’ schools. The alternative view, especially from those who were opposing closure, was that Abbeydale Grange provides a model of a diverse and cohesive community, which would be lost if it were to close. Some parents had made a positive choice for this diversity and others saw it as an ideal that was worth preserving.

The doubts that were expressed about how well pupils from refugee backgrounds and those with English as an additional language would fare in other schools has been noted above. Respondents also commented on the need to preserve this level of support in the community served by Abbeydale Grange.

9) Effect on neighbouring schools

The problem should not be transferred to other schools [e-mail]

I would be very unhappy if the closure of Abbeydale Grange would have a negative impact on pupils who are already attending King Ecgberts, or those who are due to attend there in Y7 from feeder schools and who live in the catchment area. While I acknowledge that everyone has the right to a good and positive educational experience it is not acceptable if this

16 should negatively impact on the educational experience of those already attending alternative secondary schools. [e-mail]

This will mean that not only pupils who are being moved are put at a disadvantage, but the pupils at schools they join will all suffer from overcrowding. [e-mail]

Those that care about the education of their children will surely opt out again.Will King Ecgberts become the next failing school? [e-mail]

While I understand the need to resolve a number of issues at AGS, in the event of closure, why is the Local Authority proposing to allocate most of the pupils to King Ecgbert’s, a school which is already full and nearly twice the distance away compare to other schools? The impact on King Ecgbert would be enormous and wholly disproportionate. [e-mail]

If I was a parent at Silverdale I would not be happy about class sizes of 34 going up o 36 next year. [staff meeting]

I don’t think integrating those pupils with all their different challenges into other better performing schools is a good idea. [school gates]

I’m concerned about where the kids who are currently in the school will go – I don’t want them dragging down standards. [school gates]

A number of respondents in the consultation pointed out a potentially negative effect of pupils transferring to Abbeydale Grange, and of the catchment areas being reallocated. Some referred to a negative effect of overcrowding, others referred to “transferring a problem” or an “impact on standards”. This was particularly heard at the Dobcroft school gates meetings and in many of the 32 e-mails from parents living in the King Ecgbert area.

10) Future use of the site

I would be very opposed to the site being sold off for prime building land which would be a pressure on local resources, other local schools and the removal of a valuable green breathing space that is much appreciated by the community – who would fight vehemently to stop this happening I’m sure. [e-mail]

A community centre with different all-age activities is something we don’t have here and combined with a public library/café/health centre would be an excellent amenity for the local people. [e-mail]

What will happen with the site? An active community uses the school on a daily basis and this is an asset to the community and has been for 50 years. Will it be closed? This has not been considered in the report. [focus group]

A lot of rumours are going round that the closure is because of the value of the site [Community Liaison Group]

There was some scepticism expressed in the consultation about the Council’s motives for proposing closure of Abbeydale Grange. Some people claimed that the underlying reason was for the Council to be able to release the value of the site.

Others were concerned about how the site might be used in the future and there were regular comments during the consultation about a desire to retain the site as a green

17 space and for community usage.

11) The Consultation Process

A consultation should be just that and any supporting information should be neutral, this is not the case. You talk in glowing terms in your literature about the money available for the schools taking on Abbeydale students but do not mention the 14 million already promised to refurbish the existing site. Clearly this selective sharing of information is meant to persuade rather than inform. [e-mail]

This idea was not only ill-conceived, but the subsequent handling of the so-called consultation has been farcical. The children at Abbeydale Grange and all the other schools that will be affected by this outrageous proposal deserve better service from their Council. [e- mail]

The focus groups recommended soft federation, this was put to one side by Cabinet. If the response to the consultation again comes up with soft federation, will Cabinet ignore it again. [staff meeting]”

The period of 10 th June to 8 th July was an unrealistic time to ask schools to explore a hard federation. [Focus Groups]

The consultation process has been too short and not enough information has been sent for people to make an informed decision [school gates]

We’ve always received a bad press. The process of consultation and the special measures has been handled badly by the Council – it always focuses on the negatives. [pupils]

Abbeydale Grange is not being allowed the two years to improve under national challenge. [Community Liaison Group]

There is lip service paid to consultation, it’s only done because it’s a legal requirement.[AG parents meeting]

With regards to the leaflet that was sent out to parents in the community about the consultation; how many parents will even look at AG with a biased leaflet like that? [AG Parents Meeting]

The Council’s approach to the consultation has been to set out a single option rather than a balanced picture of alternatives, which should have included the option for retaining the school and what that would look like.[AG Governors].

Some of the participants in the consultation criticised the Council’s handling of the consultation process. One point was that the Council was presenting only one option, that of closure, and had not facilitated a discussion about the options for how Abbeydale Grange might stay open. Some, mainly Abbeydale Grange parents and staff, went further to suggest that the Council’s consultation was biased and that the focus on closure had further contributed to a negative perception of the school. For some, the consultation was too short or felt superficial. By contrast, the Children & Young People’s Scrutiny Board praised the thoroughness of the Council’s consultation and particularly the efforts made to reach parents that would not otherwise have attended meetings.

18 Another point that was heard during the consultation was that the Council had unfairly rejected the option of ‘soft’ federation, which had been the advisory group’s preferred option for the future of Abbeydale Grange. There were also references to length of time given to those schools which were targeted as potential hard federation partners to consider expressing an interest in a hard federation with Abbeydale Grange.

12) Alternative Options

There are difference levels of post-16 provision from Level 1 to Level 3. Pupils from the South West are having to go to the Sheffield academies to do Level 1 and 2 courses. If Abbeydale Grange were able to offer Level 1 and 2 courses that would get the overall numbers up as this need is unmet on this side of the city. [staff meeting]

Given that the school is now improving, doesn’t a soft federation become an option again? [staff meeting]

All we need is a new building and a sixth form [Focus group].

Government is now saying we should put 6 th forms back into schools. This cannot be unrelated to Abbeydale Grange, as this is the most important reason that parents gave for not sending pupils to the school. This is a material change which needs to be put back on the table as an option. [Focus group]

Fir Vale is a good example of how a school can be turned around. If the Council truly wants to rescue Abbeydale Grange , it can do [Somali Meeting].

Is there any mileage in putting forward a cooperative trust as a possible solution? [Community Liaison Group]

Fir Vale was transformed – can’t this happen to Abbeydale Grange [Feeder Meeting]

The main alternative option expressed by respondents was that Abbeydale Grange should remain open. A number of parents and staff at Abbeydale Grange said that investment in rebuilding the school would be a signal of the Council’s support and commitment, and that it would be likely to attract parents back to Abbeydale Grange.

The option of creating a sixth form was raised at the Focus Group meeting. The view noted in the meeting was that a lack of sixth form is a factor that makes Abbeydale Grange less attractive to local parents in their choice of secondary school. At the staff meeting, the view was that there is an unmet need for Level 1 and 2 courses in the area and that having this provision at Abbeydale Grange would attract higher numbers of pupils.

A comparison to Earl Marshall was frequently made in the consultation. Respondents quoted the success of Fir Vale as a rebuilt and fresh-started school and the possibility that Abbeydale Grange could go through a similar transformation. It was argued that it was within the Council’s powers to “rescue” Abbeydale Grange.

The possibility of creating a Cooperative Trust as an option for retaining Abbeydale Grange was put forward by a participant at the Community Liaison Group meeting.

19 4 Consultation on Reallocation of Catchment Areas

As part of the proposal, the Council brought forward a proposal for how the catchment area of Abbeydale Grange and the feeder status of the local primary schools could be reallocated, in the event of Abbeydale Grange closing.

For ease of reporting, responses in all formats (e-mail, letter, records of meetings) have been analysed and the key points ordered under themes. The full text of responses is included in the appendices. In order to report the issues as accurately as possible, the reporting below includes direct quotations from the responses.

1) Agreement with the proposed arrangements

I think the proposed feeder schools for the various primary schools in the area are appropriate and fair. [e-mail]

The proposed changes of catchment I think is a good idea. [e-mail]

I am comfortable with the proposal of Carterknowle pupils going to High Storrs. [Carterknowle evening meeting]

I think the proposal for the reallocation of the junior schools’ catchment areas makes sense. [Letter]

I think that the proposals are well thought out with regards to particular thought to transport links and feeder schools. In my opinion I feel that you have obviously taken everything into account and should the school have to close then these are the best solutions. [e-mail]

A small number of parents, particularly in the Holt House/Carterknowle area, stated their agreement with the proposal for the reallocation of catchment areas. Most parents in the Dobcroft area were also content with the proposed continuation of their catchment status for Silverdale.

2) Preference for increased option arrangements

We are surprised that pupils in the catchment area for Abbeydale infants school would not be granted joint catchment status to High Storrs in the same way as pupils from Sharrow will be offered. [e-mail]

These other local schools, into which our kids are now well integrated, feed High Storrs/ Silverdale / King Edwards. Yet because we are in the Abbeydale Primary catchment our children will be forced to leave their friendship groups to attend King Ecgberts , with a 4 mile bus journey each way, instead of 1 1/2 mile walk up to High Storrs or Silverdale. [e-mail]

The distance to High Storrs is walkable, convenient and travelling to this school does not incur expense. Please consider giving the children in the Abbeydale Primary catchment a JOINT catchment status, as you are intending to do with Sharrow Primary. [e-mail]

Under the proposals outlined, our children would fall into the catchment for King Ecgberts if Abbeydale grange were to close. This would be fine, although it is quite a long way away. Many children from this area attend High Storrs, as it is within walking distance. Our ideal situation would be to have joint catchment status for these two schools. [e-mail]

20 Why hasn’t the Abbeydale Primary catchment area been offered joint catchment status for High Storrs and King Ecgbert? High Storrs is much nearer and a lot of parents from Nether Edge prefer High Storrs. [Community Liaison Group]

If the catchment area is to change, I would want an option for both King Ecgbert and High Storrs. Transport links on the Abbeydale Road go up to King Ecgbert and there are also joint activities between Holt House and King Ecgbert. [school gates]

Will you feed back to Cabinet our preference for having both High Storrs and King Ecgbert as a feeder for Carterknowle on 9 th December? [Carterknowle evening meeting]

If Dobcroft were given joint catchment status for King Ecgbert, it could be interesting to some Dobcroft parents. All secondary schools have different offers and different specialisms. It would probably still be 90% Silverdale, but a small portion could choose King Ecgbert. [Dobcroft evening meeting]

Although there was no major opposition to the catchment element of the proposal, a number of parents in both the Holt House/Carterknowle and Abbeydale Primary catchments proposed option status for High Storrs and King Ecgbert. It was felt that this would match existing patterns of preference and would guard against a reduction in choice that might arise from the proposed arrangements. Respondents from both catchments it was also felt that parents living closer to Abbeydale Road may prefer King Ecgbert due to the bus routes, whilst parents to the north may prefer High Storrs as the students would be able to walk.

3) Need for equity

I feel a much fairer proposal would be for all of the other secondary schools who are also near to Abbeydale Grange (i.e. King Edwards, Silverdale and High Storrs) share the pupils who would ordinarily go to Abbeydale Grange equally, rather than King Ecgberts accepting the majority of these pupils. [e-mail]

In the event of any closure I strongly feel that all local schools should absorb increases in intake so no one school is put under undue increased pressures. This would be the only logical, balanced and fair way to proceed. [e-mail]

It would appear that Silverdale is not having to meet any additional demands on its places although it is considerably closer geographically than King Ecgberts. [e-mail]

We note that Silverdale school are only being asked to take Dobcroft pupils – it doesn’t seem reasonable that they are not expected to take their share [e-mail]

The re-allocation of AGS catchment should be a fair and equitable distribution that reflects the wide range of socio-economic areas, and pupils prior attainment, covered by the current catchment of AGS. [e-mail]

This may also be a move which tips the ethnicity balance too far at King Ecgbert which already has a large catchment from the inner city. Currently the ethnic mix is good and provides a balanced environment for children to learn. It makes greater sense to achieve a better ethnic balance across the range of secondary schools in the south west of Sheffield which is necessary to ensure a balanced tolerant society. [e-mail]

Why is Silverdale only being required to take pupils from Dobcroft and how can this be fair when this school has a better level of attainment. [e-mail]

21 In essence the catchment areas need to be reassessed to enable King Ecgberts to have a fair allocation of mixed ability pupils filtering from its locality. [e-mail]

The southwest schools can cater well for these pupils in the future, but it is important that the manner of the redistribution is fair. [King Ecgbert Governing Body]

On the current proposals, pupils drawn from areas of greater socio-economic deprivation are unequally allocated, with the larger proportion being allocated to King Ecgbert. [Letter from King Ecgbert School]

A view that came from discussions with the local secondary schools, and particularly from King Ecgbert, was the need to seek a proposal that would equitably distribute pupils in terms of prior attainment and social background. Many of the 32 e-mails from parents in the King Ecgbert area viewed the proposal as unfair on King Ecgbert and as protective of neighbouring schools, particularly Silverdale. It was felt by some that an equitable distribution of prior attainment should be the key principle in deciding the proposed arrangements.

4) Potential for displacement

Totley All Saints is not a catchment school for King Ecgberts as we live in Bradway. Meadowhead is our catchment school. However, we live nearer King Ecgberts and it is much easier to get too. I feel that with the closure of Abbeydale Grange his chances of attending King Ecgberts will be dramatically reduced. [e-mail]

Pupils currently attending the King Ecgbert feeder schools of Dore, Totley and Totley All Saints schools, who may live just outside the King Ecgbert catchment area, will be deprived of a place in favour of pupils living further afield. [e-mail]

Under these proposals, pupils attending local schools, ie Dore, Totley and Totley All Saints who don’t live in catchment (but live close by) will be deprived of a place by pupils from Sharrow and Abbedale primary (AP) who actually live further away. This needs to be addressed. [e-mail]

The catchment area would appear to be proposed to extend far into the city centre thereby generating the perverse situation where a child who lives far closer to King Ecgberts could be excluded from that school in place of a pupil who lives in the city centre. [e-mail]

You propose to feed Carterknowle Junior School into High Storrs. This would put further pressure on places and mean that parents who have children at current feeder schools for High Storrs or siblings at the school who don't live in the catchment area, would be unlikely to get places. [e-mail]

If more people move into the area and King Ecgbert is oversubscribed, then Lowfield and Sharrow children won’t get places. [Community Liaison Group]

There were a small number of respondents that were concerned about the consequential impact of extending the catchment areas of schools. Totley All Saints School responded to express concerns about students attending local primary schools, from areas such as Bradway, whose priority would be below pupils in the proposed extended catchment areas under these proposals.

22 5) Alternative proposals

It is clearly unfair for King Ecgbert to have both AP and Sharrow. A fairer re-allocation would be for Sharrow to go to High Storrs and King Edwards. AP should be spilt with some going to Silverdale (on the basis of fairness) and also to other schools in the area. [e-mail]

If King Ecgberts is expected to take pupils from the school this should be offset by the reallocation of the Abbeydale and Sharrow pupil population to King Edwards and High Storrs, and the integration of pupils from Totley into the King Ecgberts catchment area. [e-mail]

I’m not keen on the proposal to give Sharrow feeder status to three secondaries, I would rather everyone just went to one so classes weren’t split up. [school gates]

In relation to the Sharrow feeder proposal, why not be decisive and make a clear choice, rather than offer three options? [High Storrs Governing Body]

The three-way split makes planning difficult. We would not have space for all of those children, nor would King Ecgbert. It would make more sense to split the catchment geographically, rather than give the whole catchment option status. [High Storrs Governing Body]

You could offer Dobcroft an option feed to Silverdale and King Ecgbert. [King Ecgbert Governing Body]

Listening to parents living in the Abbeydale primary catchment area, they don’t see a link with King Ecgbert but with High Storrs because they are within walking distance. (Abbeydale Primary evening meeting]

I don’t agree with the three-way option – it would just mean that transition would not work well. [Sharrow evening meeting]

Some parents in the Sharrow area were concerned about the impact of the proposed option catchment status. The concern was generally about the transition to secondary school and the benefit of creating a system where most children from the primary school transfer to the same secondary school. There was also concern from the secondary schools about their ability to plan for pupils and transition when parents have catchment status for three schools. The secondary schools suggested splitting the catchments geographically, so that pupils in the Sharrow Primary catchment area would have catchment status for one secondary school (which school would depend on where in the primary catchment they live).

Various other suggestions were aimed at bringing Silverdale into the wider picture as an option for Abbeydale or Sharrow and around removing the perceived burden on King Ecgbert. The proposal from King Ecgbert school was for Dobcroft to remain linked to Silverdale, for Holt House/Carterknowle to have an option between High Storrs and King Ecgbert, Abbeydale Primary to have an option between High Storrs and Silverdale, and for Sharrow Primary to have an option between High Storrs and King Edward VII. A number of alternative suggestions were also put forward by King Ecgbert, all in an attempt to ‘address the issues of relative capacity and more equitable distribution of pupils by prior attainment’.

The response from High Storrs school considers a need to address two issues raised by the proposed arrangements. Firstly, that there are insufficient places at King Ecgbert for all the students in the Abbeydale Primary catchment area. Therefore the existing pattern 23 of children from the Abbeydale Primary catchment to High Storrs needs to be considered and preserved. Secondly, that there needs to be more clarity in the proposal for Sharrow Primary. Therefore the catchment area should be split geographically between the secondary schools.

6) Potential impact on other schools

The lower prior attainment of these pupils would have a detrimental impact on the academic standards currently being achieved at King Ecgberts. [e-mail]

Not only is the council going to cause major disruption, trauma and upset for the children currently at Abbeydale Grange, but you will also cause major disruption in many other secondary schools and primary schools in years to come. [e-mail]

With Abbeydale Primary, King Ecgbert could have too many catchment pupils. High Storrs has a large non-catchment intake so changes would affect it less. [King Ecgbert Governing Body]

If these proposals go forward, in 5 years’ time the intake of King Ecgbert will be more challenging, so that when parents assess their options, Silverdale will continue to have higher prior attainment and will become the school of choice across the area. Silverdale needs to be included in the mix, at present it is left untouched. [King Ecgbert Governing Body]

The proposal can only ever have a serious and detrimental impact on the education of pupils at King Ecgberts, including my daughter. [e-mail]

A number of responses, mainly the 32 e-mails from parents in the King Ecgbert area, focussed on the potential impact on neighbouring secondary schools. This led some respondents to oppose closure, rather than suggest an alternative reallocation of catchment and feeder arrangements. The most frequent concern was that the proposal would have a significant impact on standards at King Ecgbert in the future, with the potential for a knock-on effect on parental preference from the existing catchment. Some felt that the proposal could make other schools, particularly Silverdale, the secondary school of choice for parents across the southwest.

7) Process

There should be additional time given for consultation on the details of these proposals involving all the schools in the area. To be consulted 2 weeks before the end of the consultation period is unacceptable. [e-mail]

Why have we (the parents & carers) been given so little time to consider and comment on this proposal? [e-mail]

If the catchment proposal changes parents in neighbouring areas should be offered the chance to re-apply. [King Ecgbert Governing Body]

Letters should be sent to all stakeholders to say that the LA’s current proposals for reallocation of catchments have been withdrawn and a number of options will be considered – this will at least tell stakeholders that it is not the foregone conclusion that many believe to be the case. [letter]

There was a feeling from some in the King Ecgbert school community that more should have been done to engage with them as part of the consultation. Some parents felt that the proposal would have a big impact on their children’s education at King Ecgbert.

24 Therefore some felt that the letter sent to King Ecgbert parents should have happened at the start of consultation and that more details and opportunities to respond should have been offered.

A smaller number of responses raised a question about parents being offered the chance to reapply for Year 7 places next year depending on the outcome of consultation.

25