INFORMATION FOR PROPOSALS FOR PRESCRIBED ALTERATIONS Withernsea High School Proposal for change of defined age range Introduction Every school has a defined age range for the pupils it can have on its’ roll. Withernsea High School is a local authority maintained school currently and has a defined age range of 11-18 years. This proposal seeks to consult on the change of this defined age range to 11-16 years, with effect from 1st September 2021. In making such a change, the local authority is required to follow the government’s statutory process for prescribed alterations, including the issue of a public notice. School and Local Authority details The proposal is published by East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Cross Street, County Hall, Beverley, HU17 9BA. The school to which the proposal relates is a community school, Withernsea High School, Hull Road, Withernsea, HU19 2EG. Description of the proposed change This proposal seeks to enable Withernsea High School to withdraw Post-16 provision by reducing the age range from 11-18 years to 11-16 years. This is because pupils completing Year 11 studies at Withernsea High School are already choosing to attend other providers and the school cannot compete with those other providers. A significant majority of pupils have chosen to study their Post-16 courses in other institutions both in the East Riding and in Hull over the last five years. This has led to the school only being able to offer a narrow and limited curriculum. There is a very low level of interest from 11-16-year-old pupils at Withernsea High School to remain at the school after they are 16 and progress into the schools’ sixth form. After a process of review and evaluation, the school’s governing body have concluded that a sustainable sixth form cannot continue to be supported. The school has requested that the local authority initiate a formal consultation on the proposal to change the age range of the school from 11-18 to 11-16. Withernsea High School - Proposal for change of defined age range, Page 1 of 9 Post-16 pupils already choose to access high quality provision from a range of providers across the East Riding and Hull. A broader choice at age 16 enables broader choices at age 18 both in terms of further/higher study and employment. Very small class sizes, as seen previously at Withernsea High School, can limit peer challenge, discussion and debate. The sixth form at Withernsea High School is competing for pupils with other providers some of whom are judged by Ofsted to be outstanding. To support positive transitions Post-16, a high-quality careers programme from years 8 to 11 involving a range of external Post-16 and Post-18 education and training providers takes place. Pupils use the Hull and East Riding web based portal >log on | move on> to make applications to their providers of choice. The range of providers and their subject choices are listed on >log on | move on>, supportive information for pupils also includes financial and transport information. If the proposal is approved, pupils would continue to access high quality, sustainable Post-16 provision from other providers which would support their life journey aspirations, enabling them to broaden their opportunities and open up life chances perhaps not previously considered and otherwise available to them. Implementation timeframe The proposed change to the school’s age range, would take effect from 1 September 2021. This would mean that the school will not admit pupils into Year 12 (sixth form), when the autumn term starts on 6 September 2021. Project costs There are no capital costs associated with this proposal. Implications for staffing As the school has not admitted pupils into Year 12 for nearly two academic years, there are not expected to be any staffing implications as a result of this proposal. As pupil numbers have reduced, the school has already adjusted its staffing accordingly to mirror the already low level of demand. The school have confirmed that the withdrawal of Post-16 provision at the school would not lead to any associated staffing redundancies. School capacity The current capacity of the school is 1,267 pupils. As it is not intended to remove any buildings at Withernsea High School, the net capacity of the school will not be affected by the proposed age range change. The change of age range to 11-16 would enable the school to be more flexible with their buildings to better meet the needs of existing and future pupils in the 11-16 age range. It would also enable the school to anticipate an increase in pupil numbers from Year 7 -11 inclusive in order to, for example, reflect local demographic changes should they arise. Number of pupils on roll At the time of publishing this proposal, there were 737 pupils on roll at Withernsea High School. The following chart shows the distribution of these pupils across all year groups. Withernsea High School - Proposal for change of defined age range, Page 2 of 9 200 180 173 160 150 143 140 130 125 120 100 80 60 40 16 20 0 0 Students on roll in the 2020-21 school year Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Year 11 Year 12* Year 13** *as the school did not take any pupils into Year 12 in September 2020 **due to leave the school in July 2021 The number of pupils attending the school in Years 7 to 11 is relatively stable, with at present an average of 144 pupils on roll in each of these year groups against 150 available places. These cohort sizes have not historically been reflected in the numbers of pupils choosing to remain at the school for their Post-16 studies and therefore taking up places in the school in Years 12 and 13. Post-16 Provision at Withernsea High School since 2015 Student numbers in Years 12 and 13 at Withernsea High School have been low for a number of years and, as the number of pupils has declined, the breadth of subjects that the school has been able to provide at Post-16 has reduced. The breadth and quality of Post-16 education and training opportunities on offer from other local Post-16 providers has made this a highly competitive market. Withernsea High School has therefore seen a reduction in the numbers of pupils choosing to stay at the school for their Post-16 studies that has, in turn, reduced the subject choice. A broader choice at 16 enables broader choice at 18 both in terms of further/higher study and employment thereby increasing rather than limiting options for Withernsea High School pupils in later life. Unlike some other schools, Withernsea High School is not a net importer of pupils from other schools who join for their Post-16 studies having experienced their secondary education in another local school. Withernsea High School is traditionally a net exporter of students meaning students move on at the end of Year 11 into other schools and settings. The table below shows the subjects offered at Withernsea High School and the number of pupils enrolled by subject as at 10 September in each of the last five academic years in which there was a Year 12 intake. The table is separated into those Post-16 courses that are academic in the top half of the table and those vocational courses in the lower half. Not all vocational subjects can be delivered in a school setting as they require specialist equipment and industry knowledge. The colour scale in the attached table, and in the total number of pupils enrolled in the final row of the table, shows the decline in subjects studied (from green to red), over a number of academic Withernsea High School - Proposal for change of defined age range, Page 3 of 9 years. It also shows where the school offered new subjects and discontinued other subjects as a result of low demand. Such changes were necessary both for staffing changes and curriculum decisions, both of which are more volatile in a small school particularly as numbers decrease. This chart shows the subjects taken up by pupils not the full range of subjects offered, the number taken up is less than those offered. Number of students enrolled by subject at 10th September Subject offered 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 Art 4 11 3 7 Biology 23 6 7 6 5 Chemistry 12 7 6 3 7 English 6 4 8 3 Film Studies 4 4 1 Geography 13 13 3 2 History 19 17 4 0 Maths 20 10 8 11 7 Media studies 7 Physics 12 7 2 3 Psychology 12 12 Business studies 12 0 Dance 5 4 5 1 Engineering 3 9 4 2 9 Double engineering 9 Hair & beauty 7 9 4 4 IT 8 10 7 1 Music 6 4 3 2 Sport 10 15 10 9 10 Double sport 7 15 6 2 6 Triple sport 5 Number starting Year 12 59 43 30 24 23 Key to the chart above – the subjects are coloured according to their popularity across several academic years. Subjects with high levels of relative interest are coloured towards the green end of the scale, with those subjects/years in which very low levels of pupils selected this subject coloured red. The school has not admitted pupils into Year 12 for the last two academic years due to exceptionally low take-up. The last Year 12 cohort which started in September 2019 was comprised of just 22 pupils.