Newnham and Castle Federation: Questions raised through the Castle/Newnham consultation process and responses to those questions
1. The Federation proposal 1.1 What are the benefits of doing this and effectiveness of federations The driving idea behind this federation is not about quantitative change, not about a larger footprint, but about achieving a qualitative shift in provision. It will enable us to make the most equitable use of the physical and human resources within and across the three schools to the benefit of all children. The top 5 key benefits of this approach are:
1) Community cohesion and continuity – this model allows the strong relationships with parents and pupils that are established when pupils are very young to continue as they progress up the system. 2) Personalised learning opportunities – teaching pupils based on the point of readiness rather than age allows for specialist teaching much earlier on in a pupil’s learning journey. Knowing learners well and for longer is a foundation for this. 3) Removal of negative effects of bridging transitions – there is a large amount of research into the detrimental effects on pupil learning of transitions between schools. An all-through approach creates opportunities for smooth transitions between phases and school sites. 4) Economies of scale – the most equitable and efficient use of physical, financial and human resources and the sharing of resources and exceptional practices across and between the schools can be achieved through an all-through approach. 5) The benefits of mixed age working – older pupils can support younger pupils, allowing for pupil leadership and mentoring opportunities. Research tells us that such opportunities have a positive impact on the behaviour and self-esteem of young people with sizeable benefits to younger children also.
The three governing bodies have considered the potential impact on the wider school community locally. The proposal fits very well into local planned changes and our all-through school would seek to maintain positive relationships with local schools. Discussions have been held with leaders from other local schools as part of the process of planning for this change.
1.2 Choice of schools to federate with Historically, Castle has always had a positive working relationship with Newnham and Hazeldene and the proposal is a natural evolution of these relationships. Although the intake of children between the schools has fluctuated over recent years, there has always been a strong flow of children going to Newnham.
The schools have similar ethos and culture and a shared vision exists across the new, strong and dynamic leadership team. None of the schools has any immediate desire to academise and we are all local authority schools. Newnham is a progressive school with a strong leadership team and has recently achieved exceptional outcomes – evidenced by recent SATs. Forging a stronger relationship between the schools is an obvious choice.
A soft federation with Hazeldene is proposed because it already has the accommodation to become a primary school on its existing site and has an incumbent, well-regarded and experienced headteacher.
1.3 How successful are federations and through schools There is an increasing number of examples of successful all-through schools and federated school arrangements, both locally and nationally. The number of all through schools nationally has risen greatly, with both OFSTED and the DFE recognising the many potential benefits of an all-through approach to education. Locally, the Catholic federation has seen success with two of the federated schools judged to be
September 2015 Page 1 of 24 outstanding and with a highly effective system of pastoral care from 4 -18 years. In North-Bedfordshire the Sharnbrook federation is also established and successful.
With regard to the curriculum, within each school a federated approach to learning will allow us to share the physical resources, subject specialist teaching and leadership aptitudes across the federation. One of the greatest benefits will be the strong pastoral care pupils will receive, with relationships being forged early and built on throughout a pupils’ school career. They will be profoundly well known and supported.
1.4 Opportunity to be involved & feedback The governors of the three schools have proposed federation as they believe it is best for children, their families and the community. As the process unfolds, there will be the chance to get involved in further stages of the federation’s development. Through the Parent Teacher Associations and various working parties, parents who wish to engage with the process will have many opportunities to get involved. All parents will be kept informed of developments and potential future plans at all stages of the process of federation. Pupils will also be consulted on key decisions, and will actively take part in decision-making processes. There will be a range of opportunities for collaboration and leadership for older pupils on each site.
There will also be a wider range of opportunities with regard to broader school experience beyond the classroom, with a variety of clubs and trips offered. Those pupils with specific educational needs will benefit from a holistic approach to supporting individual needs. Gifted and talented pupils will benefit from this same early identification, specialist teaching and facilities early on and sustained support as they progress through the years.
2. Leadership & Governance All school governing bodies are responsible for developing a strategic view and establishing a vision. That will equally apply to the federation which will see the existing Castle and Newnham governing bodies replaced with a single governing body. The Hazeldene governing body will not be required to change and consequently will provide continuity of the federation vision.
Appointments to the new federation governing body will follow existing rules which vary depending on the category of governor. The majority of governor roles are subject to election and where there are more candidates than places available then those standing to be elected must set out their skills, experience and interest in becoming a governor. The process of election ensures those elected as governors can be held to account for upholding the federation proposal. The vision of the governing bodies and head teachers responsible for the federation is to build on the existing strengths of the schools and deliver outstanding education for our children as local authority schools.
The good and outstanding status of the three schools, the existing educational progress of pupils in the schools and the coherence of the proposal provide robust reasons why academy status would not be forced on the federation.
Federations are long term commitments and that is our plan. However, it is possible for schools to withdraw from a federation and governing bodies must follow a prescribed process, set out in the federation regulations The School Governance {Federations) {England) Regulations 2007 or The School Governance {Federations) {England) Regulations 2012) which also apply when a federation is dissolved.
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3. Ethos and vision Currently our three schools have a shared vision which includes: Striving for the highest possible standards of achievement and behaviour in a stimulating environment; Valuing independence, developing a deeper level of learning and providing a curriculum which enables our pupils to become active citizens of the future; Striving to be a centre for truly excellent teachers, where quality leadership is extended to professionals in other schools and where the staff are committed to their own learning journey and the sharing of quality practice; and Holding joint staff meetings, moderation meetings and sharing excellent professional practice.
The new federation will enable us to build upon all of the above.
We will create a learning environment that ensures success. We will ensure a safe, caring, supportive and inclusive federation in which academic success will be delivered and the development of individual flair, creativity, talent and personality will be encouraged.
Our mission is to establish a federation of three schools that will provide for our parents a clear educational journey from aged 3-16. This will be achieved through ensuring a culture of success and achievement, a refusal to compromise on “excellence” and a commitment to ensuring that all children achieve their maximum potential. We will focus on attainment within traditional core subjects (English, Maths, the sciences and ICT) humanities, technology, creative and expressive arts and at least one language), whilst providing a rich and exciting curriculum. We also believe that all pupils should have the opportunity to take part in a wide range of sporting activity, as part of the curriculum, as an extra-curricular activity; and in competition with other schools
We aim to rapidly secure the confidence and support of the local community and will fully reciprocate this.
4. Admissions and catchment areas Parental choice is unaffected by the federation, subject to availability of a place at your chosen school. Applications for a school place will continue to be made through the Local Authority. The federation actually expands the options open to parents. The federation provides the certainty of a place for a pupil all the way through to GCSE but if parents wish to send their child to another school, whether that’s a primary, middle, a secondary or an independent school, that is their choice.
The Local Authority co-ordinates admission into the Reception Year and applications for admission should be made in accordance with the Local Authority’s co-ordinated scheme. The timescales for the application process are set out in the Starting School Booklet, available with the application form from any school or the Local Authority, or by clicking the link below: http://www.bedford.gov.uk/education_and_learning/schools_and_colleges/school_admissions/starting_sc hool.aspx
The Castle-Newnham federation and Hazeldene School will publish and consult on new admission criteria effective from 2017. The federation governing bodies will be the admission authority and will determine the school’s admission policy and arrangements. They will be responsible for taking decisions on applications for admission.
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The current admissions criteria of the federating schools give priority to siblings and it is not anticipated that this will change.
The admissions criteria into middle/upper school in 2016 will not change.
The current admission criteria for the three federation schools can be viewed on their respective websites by clicking the links below: http://castlelowerschool.co.uk/admissions/ http://www.hazeldeneschool.co.uk/Policies/Admissions.pdf http://www.newnham-middle.org.uk/docs/policies/Admissions_Policy_2013.pdf
The 2017 reception intake for the Castle-Newnham federation and Hazeldene School will be 90 children and 60 children respectively. An unsuccessful applicant for a reception place to either the Castle-Newnham federation or Hazeldene School would not be automatically guaranteed a reception place at the other federation school, but would be allocated a place at the school highest on their application list which has space.
Pupils at Castle and Hazeldene will be guaranteed entry to the secondary provision from year 7 and others will also be able to access the provision subject to the availability of places.
In 2017 the Castle-Newnham federation will take on the first year 9 cohort which will consist of the current Newnham year 7 pupils. This year 9 cohort will then be the first year 10 cohort for 2018.
Catchment Areas
From September 2014 the governing body of Castle determined in its admission arrangements that it would no longer serve a catchment area. Details of the revised admissions criteria for Castle can be found by clicking on the link in the ‘Admissions’ section above.
At the present time, the governing bodies of Hazeldene and Newnham have no plans to change their catchment area or to no longer serve a catchment area.
The current catchment areas for Hazeldene and Newnham can be viewed on the maps below:
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5. Transition into the school The questions raised in the consultation process all relate to the aspect of transition from one school to another, within the school, for children joining from Hazeldene and post 16 choices.
One of the main reasons for federating is to reduce the number of transitions that are made during a typical pupil’s school life. The greater number of transitions there are the greater the number of new starting points that the pupil has. The new system will promote much greater continuity and consistency and genuine ‘joined up thinking’.
In this scenario, pupils moving from Castle to Newnham in 2016 will have one year in the Middle School before then becoming part of the Federated through school. Above and beyond concerns over things like uniform it will be ensured that this will not be a ‘holding year’ and that the basic working of the through school e.g. sharing of assessment targets, achievement data and curriculum will already be in place.
Children who then join the school at year 7 from Hazeldene will have already met and worked with the Newnham site students through shared incentives and schemes e.g. outreach work, Gifted & Talented workshops and sports events. There will also be a series of carefully managed programmes and transition events to ensure that the Hazeldene children feel as much part of the school as the Castle children do – if they don’t already.
Children in Year 5 and 6 will be taught separately from the rest of the school in the annex to the main school. They will also have their own playground however it will be very clear that this is a through school and not a Primary and Secondary split across two sites.
Post 16 the education landscape is changing and nowhere is that more obvious than in Bedford. Provision across the town is increasing all the time and different schools and colleges are developing a wide variety of specialisms. With that in mind it would be unwise to develop a sixth form provision although we will be developing links with all of the providers to ensure that students and parents are fully supported in navigating the best option for their child post 16.
6. Ability to cater for the differing needs of children 9 – 16 years. 6.1 Mixing 9 year old and 16 year olds The ‘primary’ provision at Newnham will be a separate set of buildings (currently the Annex which accommodates Year 5). The Annex, situated geographically some 100 metres from the main buildings will be further enhanced with 1. A clear boundary between the primary and secondary areas of the school, clearly separating the primary phase from the secondary phase students. There will therefore be no ‘free mixing’ of the students at break times, or before or after school. However, leadership / student mentoring programmes are likely to continue, having been recently trialled successfully between year 8 Newnham and year 2 Castle students. 2. Year 5 and 6s will be given appropriate responsibilities within the context of being at the senior end of their primary phase. Year 6 may be gradually and appropriately introduced to areas of the secondary school as they approach transfer into the secondary phase e.g. assemblies, specialist classrooms etc. 3. Pupils with additional needs will benefit from early identification and will be supported by excellent intervention practices throughout their schooling. Similarly, gifted and talented pupils with be
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identified early and will receive a personalised learning experience with specialist teaching and facilities available.
6.2 Meeting the needs of older children 1. The Federation intends to work closely with willing secondary and upper schools to support the social development of this cohort over the 4 years. It is hoped that mentoring/leadership programmes by older students in partner schools will contribute significantly to developing these students’ social and interpersonal skills.
2. Leadership opportunities will be provided both within the school (prefects, language and sports leaders for example) but also externally through our links with local higher education institutions and employers. We will continue to develop a programme of links with oversees partner schools to provide opportunities for social and cultural development to include working with slightly older pupils where desirable. We will continue to provide work experience placements for older pupils from other local schools and will have the capacity to extend this in order to ensure regular contact with strong role models. Our own pupils will be provided with work experience opportunities and / or volunteering in the community in a similar way. Likewise we will continue to provide and can extend the provision of apprenticeship placements for recent school leavers, also ensuring good role models are regularly in school.
7. Approach to teaching 7.1 SEND, gifted & talented, pastoral care Knowledge of individual pupils and families and their needs from an early stage and over an extended period of time is one of the real strengths of federation and an all-through approach to schooling.
The federation structure proposes a senior leader with responsibility for SEND (Special Education Needs and Disability) across the all-through school. This senior leader would be supported by an assistant thus creating capacity to develop excellence across the federation. There are already highly productive links between all three schools in ensuring best possible provision and high expectations for SEND pupils and these will be built upon through regular meetings to discuss pedagogy and practice as well as the learning and progress of individual and groups of pupils.
Each school places huge value on the development of individual talent and interest across and beyond the traditional curriculum. Opportunities for more able and talented pupils at each stage will be extended through federation with the possibility of extended use of specialist facilities and the creation over time of new facilities (arts, sports, technology and sciences for example). As a wider group of professionals and with pooled resources we will be able to provide and develop an increasing range of opportunity in, for example, extended provision of languages, music education and sports. Extra-curricular opportunities and out-of-class learning will continue to feature strongly and to develop further as these are so important in enabling children to discover new passions and interests and to develop independence.
The federation will be committed to strong programmes of PSHCE and education which promote British values as well as academic excellence. Newnham has a very good record (commented upon by many parents) of conducting national end-of-key-stage tests in a way which ensures the opportunity for each pupil to do his or her best whilst successfully managing the potential stress of the experience. The federation would aim to develop this ethos throughout the key stages and to GCSE.
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7.2 Quality of teaching The schools in the proposed federation already provide teaching regarded as being of very high quality and governors and leaders are committed to ensuring that the development of excellence in teaching is at the heart of the work we do. Teachers in Key Stage 2 across Castle-Newnham and Hazeldene will work very closely together to ensure coherence of curriculum and a consistent approach to assessment and national tests.
All three schools will use the process outlined by the Borough Council to apply for any necessary improvements to the teaching facilities as the federation develops. The aim is to provide teaching which is of the highest quality across all phases and on each site. All three schools have already been deemed good or outstanding by Ofsted, providing an excellent basis for the development of excellence for our community which will include high-quality facilities.
7.3 Teaching staff Teachers at Newnham already specialise in either primary practice or a specialist subject. This distinct separation of primary and secondary practice has been developed over the past 18 months and has proved highly successful in ensuring good educational outcomes and a very positive ethos of behaviour.
Teachers across Castle, Hazeldene and in Key Stage 2 at Newnham are specialist primary practitioners whose training in the primary curriculum is regularly updated. This will continue and be extended under federation which will allow for greater opportunities to share best practice.
Teachers at Newnham who are subject specialists teach predominantly in one or two subject specialist areas as is common practice in all secondary schools.
Across the all-through school we will be able to allow for professional development and contribution to teaching across and between phases which fits with the national training structure and which is currently limited by the three tier system to either year R-4 or years 5 and 6 (primary) or lower key stage 3 only (secondary). This will assist with the recruitment and retention of high-quality staff and provide greater professional fulfilment and opportunity for existing staff. Discussions are underway about ensuring that one key teacher from each year group travels through the primary phase WITH the pupils in years 4, 5 and 6 to ensure consistency and familiarity, especially at the point of change of site.
The curriculum will be based on the national curriculum but resources and teaching methodology will be developed with an all-through approach.
Teachers in all three schools have expressed extremely positive views on the federation proposals and staffing is very stable with very few departures in 2015 and successful recruitment to the small number of vacancies. The federation and the opportunities it offers will enhance staff stability through the development of opportunity.
7.4 Teaching ability At Newnham the current staff already includes a high number of graduates in their subject specialism and a cohort of teachers with recent and relevant secondary experience, including GCSE and A-level teaching. Recent recruitment has enhanced this. The headteacher and two senior leaders have significant secondary
September 2015 Page 9 of 24 teaching experience. The headteacher has successful senior leadership experience in two secondary schools (one 11-16 and one 13-18) and secondary teaching experience over 25 years in a number of schools, including subject advisory experience and leading a secondary school improvement service.
There will need to be further recruitment to the secondary phase as all-through schooling develops and grows. Staff with relevant training and / or experience will be sought (as has been the case with a number of recent successful appointments). Newnham has already formed a number of dynamic partnerships with staff training, development and recruitment as a key aim.
Newnham is already well regarded and a provider of such opportunities for Key Stage 3 where local schools are extending their age-range to include the earlier years of the key stage.
Development of existing teachers is already underway and will be enhanced as federation develops. This includes, for example, a subject leader who is taking a one-year sabbatical to complete a masters degree in his subject specialism and another about to embark upon a two-year subject-specific diploma through University of Cambridge. Other similar training will follow. Subject leaders are investigating exam-board specifications to coincide with forthcoming significant changes to GCSE and will be accessing training provided by these exam boards over the coming year or two.
There are three full school years before GCSE courses will begin and we will use these to ensure that every member of staff (teaching and support) is fully prepared for the change and that any additional staffing needs are met with equally high-quality and suitably trained or experienced colleagues. We see federation as an exciting draw to attract the best teachers and support staff to work with us.
Through a combination of training, development and recruitment we are confident that we will be able to build upon the existing high levels of staff expertise and dedication to create an excellent team of secondary staff.
7.6 Evidence of capability to achieve good GCSE results One of the reasons for considering federation and subsequent change to age range is the frustration among our community that Bedford’s GCSE results, although improved over time, have not always kept pace with national results. We strongly believe (as do many headteachers across the borough) that the additional transition points built in part-way through key stages disadvantage Bedford pupils. Our commitment is to make a positive contribution to improving GCSE results and working closely with our partners to ensure that we have the staff teams to be able to do this.
Newnham has an excellent track record of bringing about improvement, evidenced by an improved Ofsted judgement in 2013 and by improved SATs results in 2014 and 2015 (in both years 80% of pupils attained level 4 or above in reading, writing AND mathematics which is above the national average and the best indicator of future GCSE performance). The progress of pupils between Key Stage 1 and 2 is at its highest ever in reading and writing following this year’s SATs results. The school is working towards ‘outstanding’ provision in all areas and will continue to do this within the context of all-through schooling, building upon the excellent practice also to be found at Castle and at Hazeldene.
7.7 Range of GCSE subjects With an eventual 150 pupils in a cohort the secondary phase of the all-through school will be approximately average in size for England: September 2015 Page 10 of 24
. Information from the Department for Education confirms that on January 2012 there were 3,268 state- funded mainstream secondary schools in England, of which:
• 317 had between 1 and 500 pupils • 1,405 had between 501 and 1,000 pupils • 1,226 had between 1,001 and 1,500 pupils • 320 had 1,501 or more pupils
The Newnham site was originally built as a secondary school for around 650 pupils. An additional small block catering for 60 pupils was recently added and further additions and refurbishments will be requested through the borough council’s recent commitment to support schools in developing alternatives to three-tier education.
We are confident that we will have the space and the specialist facilities to deliver a full range of GCSE courses. We aim to enhance further our facilities for sports and performing arts.
Current government policy is that all pupils will study GCSEs in the ‘EBacc’ subjects - English, maths, science, a language and history or geography. If schools do not offer them, they will not be eligible for a top Ofsted rating. Schools in the federation already deliver these subjects to a very high level. Newnham, for example, is a Regional Languages Hub and offers training in history to local teachers. We were recently recognised by our local MP for some excellent and innovative work in geography. Our curriculum would aim to provide excellence in these traditional curriculum areas whilst leaving plenty of space for other options such as technology, computing, art, music, drama, additional languages, PE as an academic discipline as well as statutory PE, single sciences, PSHCE and citizenship. In constructing our final curriculum offer and considering any additional subjects we will have as a rationale:
• the contribution of a subject to a pupil’s development in terms of knowledge, skills and personal fulfilment; • the ‘currency’ of a subject in terms of its future attraction to higher education and / or employers.
The interests, passions and expertise of our pupils and their teachers can be further developed, utilised and built upon through an extensive and flexible extra-curricular programme throughout the federation. Leadership opportunities to include vocational education would be provided through our links within the federation and with community partners.
With many changes to GCSE currently underway in terms of both the recognition and value given to certain subjects and the return to a more formal testing regime, based more heavily upon the acquisition and retention of knowledge, the federation is well-placed to be at the forefront of such initiatives in putting together a new curriculum unimpeded by previous practices.
7.8 Additional activities In terms of clubs, the federation will be in a good position to draw on the rich heritage of all three schools, as well as develop new ones in conjunction with staff and pupils. Examples of existing successful clubs include Castle’s chess club, and Newnham’s language club.
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8. Size of school 8.1 Pupil numbers If the schools were to federate in the academic year 2015-16 the intake into the Reception classes on the Castle Lower site for September 2016 would continue to be 90 children and that would be classified as three form entry with 30 children in 3 classes and similarly the intake into Year 5 on the Newnham site would also be three form entry with there being once again 3 classes of 30 children.
In the academic year 2017-18 the Year 7 in the federated school would then be 5 form entry and that would be 5 classes of 30 pupils, which would then include the Year 7 pupils who had formerly attended Hazeldene.
The projected pupil numbers for the federated school from 2016 to 2022 would be as follows:
Year Hazeldene Castle site Newnham site 2015 -2016 R 60 R 90 5 125 1 60 1 90 6 100 2 60 2 90 7 115 3 60 3 60 8 110 4 60 4 90
300 + Nursery 420 + Nursery 450 2016-17 R 60 R 90 5 150 1 60 1 90 6 125 2 60 2 90 7 100 3 60 3 90 8 115 4 60 4 60
300 + Nursery 420 + Nursery 490 2017-18 R 60 R 90 5 90 1 60 1 90 6 150 2 60 2 90 7 125 3 60 3 90 8 100 4 60 4 90 9 115 5 60
360 + Nursery 450 + Nursery 590 2018-19 R 60 R 90 5 90 1 60 1 90 6 90 2 60 2 90 7 150 3 60 3 90 8 150 4 60 4 90 9 125 5 60 10 115 6 60 420 + Nursery 450 + Nursery 720 Year Hazeldene Castle site Newnham site 2019-20 R 60 R90 5 90 1 60 1 90 6 90 2 60 2 90 7 150 3 60 3 90 8 150 4 60 4 90 9 150
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5 60 10 125 6 60 11 115
420 + Nursery 450 + Nursery 870 2020-21 R 60 R90 5 90 1 60 1 90 6 90 2 60 2 90 7 150 3 60 3 90 8 150 4 60 4 90 9 150 5 60 10 150 6 60 11 125
420 + Nursery 450 + Nursery 905 2021-22 R 60 1 90 5 90 1 60 2 90 6 90 2 60 3 90 7 150 3 60 4 90 8 150 4 60 9 150 5 60 10 150 6 60 11 150
420 + Nursery 450 + Nursery 930
This would give the federated school a capacity of 1, 380 pupils split over two site
8.2 Class numbers The federated school will look to continue to follow the Infant Class size initiative from Reception right through to Year 11 and therefore classes would be no greater than 30 pupils.
8.3 Impact on school ‘social’ abilities All three school currently have high regard for achieving high standards, particularly in the academic core areas of learning, but all three schools also believe in developing the ‘whole’ child and give high regard to the teaching of ‘arts’, languages, sport and the more technical subjects. All three schools currently achieve well in these areas and this will continue in a newly federated school, as developing the ‘whole’ child forms part of the Governing bodies vision of excellence in education.
9. School site and facilities 9.1 Use of the school sites Nursery – year 4 will be taught at the Castle Site and years 5 – 11 will be taught at the Newnham site. Children will not move between sites for lessons. Children attending Hazeldene will be taught on the Hazeldene site from nursery to Year 6.
Interaction between the school sites and shared resources is a fundamental part of the proposed federation’s ethos and operation. The detail of how resources are shared is being explored however, there will though be opportunities for the children to visit the different sites when appropriate.
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All years will be encouraged to make use of the federation’s resources, be this the school hall, sport hall, sports fields and our specialist subject room e.g. science labs. Castle Lower already uses the sport field for their sports day, and we would be looking to expand their use of the Newnham facilities.
Teachers will not be expected to teach across sites, although those in the relevant senior leadership roles will be responsible for effective cross-site working. Meetings and training activity will rotate across sites as appropriate. Teachers may be re-allocated to a different class at the start of the school year, as is presently the case.
9.2 Size of school (space rather than pupils) Newnham was built and opened as a secondary school, with the annex built at later date. While the site may be smaller than others locally we believe, and are supported in this view by research into optimal school sizes*, that this is an advantage which will provide an engaging and stimulating environment for your child, allows us to focus on the child as an individual, and offers a focused curriculum that will give your child the best opportunities when they leave they school. With the proposed building work that is required, our current facilities will be renovated and will be on par with those available at other local schools.
*The following are a number of articles/reports that explore optimum school sizes This is the most relevant: http://www.gulbenkian.org.uk/publications/publications/40-SCHOOLS-WITHIN-SCHOOLS.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8255341.stm http://www.gulbenkian.org.uk/
Interesting background http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/cms/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=u9LVD2UJU34= https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/183364/DFE-RR169.pdf
While the Newnham site will have more pupils than at present, the use of space will be reviewed and arrangements made to ensure that the playground and field do not become overcrowded. In addition the planned federation development assumes numbers of pupils on the Newnham site will evolve, which in the first instance will require a rebalancing of numbers across the age range.
9.3 What facilities/buildings are required The Castle Site currently has all the facilitates required for pupils from Nursery to year 4, having had a new building added in 2014 and an ongoing maintenance programme to upgrade facilities in a timely manner.
The Newnham site has facilitates in place to teach to 16 having opened originally as Secondary school, though they will need updating and extending. We have been taking advice about what is possible with the site, and while final requirements have yet to be decided the current intention is for: A new sports hall The provision of a performing arts facility Refurbishment of the Annex, including lobby area and dedicated playground New science laboratories Additional teaching spaces
9.4 Building work As with all building work some disruption is inevitable but both Castle and Newnham senior leadership teams have overseen major building projects recently, and have experience of working with contractors to reduce the impact on the children and staff, while ensuring the health & safety of all involved. The phasing of
September 2015 Page 14 of 24 necessary work will reduce the impact and where possible, building work will be carried out within school holidays.
Year 5 provision on the Newnham and Hazeldene sites will compare favourably. Newnham’s experience of providing year 5 education will be used to help Hazeldene develop its provision and as the federation develops there will be even closer cooperation. So, by year 7, when Hazeldene pupils arrive at the Newnham site they will be used to the site and its facilities.
10. Staff The terms and conditions of contracts for staff will remain as they are, with the exception of the name of the employer which will refer to the new federation in the hard federation formed from the current Castle Lower School and Newnham Middle School. Contracts for staff at Hazeldene Lower School will not change.
Newnham Middle School already specialises in either primary practice or a specialist subject and this will continue. Teachers at Castle, Hazeldene and in Key Stage 2 at Newnham are specialist primary practitioners and this will also continue.
There is currently sufficient teaching assistance (TA) staff at each school to meet the needs of pupils and teachers, within the constraints of school budgets. TA arrangements are regularly reviewed at all schools, and arrangements adjust over time. It will be right and proper to continue to review staffing arrangements under the new federation to ensure that they are best supporting excellent teaching and learning across all school sites.
11. Funding 11.1 Initial funding The additional facilities for the federation are mainly required on the Newnham site, with only minor work at Hazeldene and none at Castle. Detailed plans have not been developed, but initial discussions of the above likely requirements with the Borough Council confirm the existing site can accommodate them.
The work required on the Newnham site can be divided into two. That necessary to adapt the existing “annex” so that it can accommodate the two years of primary provision plus that work necessary to upgrade existing specialist secondary age facilities e.g. science, music and indoor sports provision.
Capital funding for building adaptations and refurbishments will be requested in September 2015 through the Borough Council’s recently publicized two-tier conversion fund. As the federation proposal represents an alternative to the existing three-tier education arrangement and reflects the Borough Council’s preference for a two-tier system – the stated intent behind the fund - we are confident the modest building work required will be funded. Castle, Newnham and Hazeldene are three local authority schools and the coherence of the education proposal at the heart of the federation proposal mean we are well placed to attract the capital funding required.
11.2 Long term funding The majority of school’s revenue budgets are determined by pupil numbers. The three existing schools already enjoy strong demand for places and the federation will enable numbers to grow further on the Newnham and Hazeldene sites. That increase in pupil numbers will automatically attract greater funding which will support longer term school development, for example recruiting and developing staff.
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In addition, existing partnership work with schools beyond the federation as well as other education establishments will enable further school development.
12. Timescales The full governing bodies (FGB) of the three schools will be meeting early in September to review the consultation outcome. Castle and Newnham will then vote in line with the regulations whether to: a) Proceed with the federation proposal as published; or b) Proceed with modification as governing bodies see appropriate; or c) Not to proceed with the federation proposal.
If the governing bodies of Castle and Newnham decide to proceed then they will formally notify the Borough council and the Secretary of State. The Federation will then start on 1st January 2016.
If the governing bodies decide not to proceed then that will be the end of the federation proposal and all three schools will consider their positions.
The current governing bodies can only plan until the federation commences and the new governing body is in place. At that point it is for the federation governing body to agree a project plan. However we have identified key dates and tasks that have been mapped onto a proposed project plan.
Date Activity 14th September Meeting of governing bodies and decision whether to proceed with Federation September Submission of funding request to Borough council If the federation proposal is endorsed then the following activity will proceed September Governing bodies inform Secretary of State and Borough council September Notification to school community Notification of disbandment of current governing body, and establishment of joint working group October Updated FAQ from consultation to be uploaded to schools websites. Those comments with contact details to be notified as a matter of courtesy once the updated FAQ is available. October Recruitment process for senior leadership commences October Call for nominees for new governing body November Close of nomination / voting for new governing body November New governing body confirmed November - Wind-up of existing governing bodies and preparations for commencement of new December federation governing body including detailed project plan 1st January 2016 Federation starts
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Federation Consultation Evening: Monday 6th July 2015 Key Questions highlighted from table discussions These questions have been answered as part of the group of similar questions, and for transparency the section number is listed below:
Table Question(s) Answer Section: 1. Is funding 100% guaranteed, or not? 11.1
2. Could you clarify the sibling rule, admissions criteria and catchment area? 4
3. What will admissions into the primary school look like? 4 What’s the capacity of the new school? 8.1 What other schools will be available? 4 4. What is the skill set of the current Newnham staff? 7.4 What will the admission criteria be for existing year 3 and year 4 pupils? 4 5. How effective are federations across the UK? 1.1 What facilities will be needed and how will they be implemented? 9.3 What will the GCSE subject quality and range look like? 7.7 How will the admissions policy change and what will its knock-on effect be for 4 Newnham? 6. What building works will be required and how disruptive will they be? 9.4 Are teachers at Newnham up to GCSE teaching? 7.4 7. How will the current year 3 be managed given it will be at Newnham for 1 year 5 before changing to the new set-up by staying where they are? 8. What’s the quality and experience of existing teachers? 7.4 How will you ensure real choice for parents? 4 9. How will year 5 at Newnham and Hazeldene compare in their preparation for 7.2 SATS? 10. What are the facilities and how do they need to be adapted for GCSE provision? 9.3
11. What will the class sizes look like in year 7? 7 What provision will there be for gifted and talented pupils? 7.1 12. What will the breadth of GCSE provision be given it will be a “small” school? 7.7 Will pupils be involved in planning the adaptations to the year 5/6 annex? 1.4 13. How will the social growth of children in the oldest cohort be accommodated 6.2 over the 4 years? 14. How have the governing bodies considered the wider impact of the decision to 1.1 pursue federation? 15. How will the facilities of the three sites be used across the schools? 9.1 How will year 5 on the Newnham and Hazeldene sites compare? ? 16. Will £1.75M be enough to make the necessary changes across the schools? 11.1
Full list of questions raised via the consultation process, arranged in relation to Q&A with in this document: All questions/comments have been given a reference in the brackets to anonymise the responses. Reference relation:
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– Table key questions from each table at the consultation evening - ID start with c, comments from consultation evening, -number only comments/question submitted as part of consultation period.
1.1 What are the benefits of doing this and effectiveness of federations? a) How effective are federations across the UK? (Table 5) b) How have the governing bodies considered the wider impact of the decision to pursue federation? (Table 14) c) Next nearest federation school? (c7) d) What’s the effectiveness of federations across the UK? (c27) e) Why now? (x2) (c29) f) What other federations exist at the moment? (c43) g) Can you list 5 really tangible benefits to the children that will arise as a result of the merger? I think we need some really, really concrete examples to help crystallise thoughts. (11) h) I am wondering as a parent who chose to send her (current Yr 5) daughter to Goldington, along with 80% of other parents (pattern for past 2/3 years). Why Castle is doing this with Newnham? (I understand they are both LA)(57) i) Is the idea ’strength through numbers’ ?(65) j) Why is this proposal better than the existing system - in concrete terms (rather than general educational benefits)?(65) k) How effective are through schools?(71) l) I would like to know examples of other federations in the area and how they have worked?(75) m) Is the federation robust enough to stop any other changes being imposed on the schools (2 tier)?(75) n) What benefits have been found where a federation has been formed?(81) o) How common are federations in the UK? (81)
1.2 Choice of schools to federate with Why is Hazeldene only soft federating? (11)
1.4 Opportunity to be involved & feedback a) Will pupils be involved in planning the adaptations to the year 5/6 annex? (Table 12) b) How will pupils be affected? (c9) c) Are existing pupils going to be involved in designing the new playground areas? (c31) d) I would be very interested in being part of any working/planning party - as a parent of a child at castle, as a parent of a child who has left Castle, and in my profession as a Primary School teacher - it’s brilliant news (25) e) Is there further opportunity for parents to be involved in this process (for those of us who are not governors) i.e. working party? (67) f) Have we spoken to the children to gain their views?(71) g) How will answers be fed back?(71) h) The XXX is keen to explore with the new head teacher and Heads of Schools how the XXX resources, its staff, volunteers and buildings, can help the whole Federation in the fulfilment of the National Curriculum, especially in the areas of RE and assemblies.(85)
2. Governance a) Dedication of new head teacher? (c18) b) Continuity of leadership – how will that be handled? (c19) c) How will continuity be ensured with Mr Marsh leaving? (x2) (c42) d) As the federation has not run GCSE’s before how can the federation ensure the teaching quality or to show they’ve got a strong/good team?(17)
September 2015 Page 18 of 24 e) What governance is in place to protect the Federation from changes in vision in future boards of Governors.(36) f) Will we ever be an academy? (c11) g) I am very positive about this federation. I would want to see the protection of the schools against forced academy status.(75) h) Legal status of federation? (c10) i) My only question would be whether there would be a scenario in which we would have to ‘unfederate’ and the difficulties that may cause.(86)
3. Ethos and vision a) Have you considered the impact of managing the transition for the wider community? (c33) b) How will relationships between schools be developed? (c39) c) What is the shared ethos of the 3 schools? (11) d) It is mentioned several times and I am none the wiser as to what it actually is. I think the vision is a little woolly and needs more clarity: a. Do we need a federation and to deliver these? b. Is there a cost agenda here? c. Should we read “stable” and “sustainable” as meaning financially stable and sustainable? (11)
4. Admissions and catchment areas: a) Could you clarify the sibling rule, admissions criteria and catchment area?(Table 2) b) What other schools will be available? (Table 3) c) What will admissions into the primary school look like? (Table 3) d) What will the admission criteria be for existing year 3 and year 4 pupils? (Table 4) e) How will the admissions policy change and what will its knock-on effect be for Newnham? (Table 5) f) How will you ensure real choice for parents? (Table 8) g) Will moving out of catchment in September 2016 for a year affect place? (c2) h) Feeder schools? (c3) i) Hazeldene pupil in year 2, Mum wants her to come to Newnham in year 5 (her brother is here); is she child able to transfer in year 5? (c23) j) What’s the sibling rule? (c24) k) What’s the catchment area? (c24) l) What will the admissions policy be? (c28) m) Are you able to comment on catchment areas? (Our youngest child A is currently in year 2 the Hills and is due to start year 5 in September 2017. We would of course choose Newnham for him and it is currently our catchment school. We are really hoping that Newnham remains our catchment school - are you able to shed any light on this topic?)(02) n) My only question would be when my 2 yr old is ready for school, is she guaranteed a place at Castle and if not and a place wasn’t available would Hazeldene be the next option so she would eventually attend Newham School.(05) o) What if my child wanted to go to Goldington?(36) p) Concerns regarding the ‘Sibling and catchment’ as my younger son is currently at The Hills academy in Yr 1.(72) q) What choices do they have?(73) r) My eldest is currently in year 3 at castle and very curious about admissions. Obviously by the time the federation comes into being she will not be part of the transition and, being outside catchment, may have some worries, whilst her little brother and sister will automatically progress. Beyond that, we’re behind the federation. Very exciting prospect.(79) s) None catchment lower school - does this still guarantee placement for siblings?(80)
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t) If Goldington Academy chooses to become a secondary school, will Castle parents still have a choice of where to go at 11?(81) u) Can a pupil going to Goldington come back into this Federation as the federation was not known about the time?(84) v) Will the first intake of the secondary years which are to be added to the school be the first for each of the years, i.e. the first year of Year 10, then the same year group being the first year of Year 11 etc. (91)
5. Transition into the school a) How will the current year 3 be managed given it will be at Newnham for 1 year before changing to the new set-up by staying where they are? (Table 7) b) What about post-16 provision? (c5) c) How will year 5 at Newnham compare to year 5 at Hazeldene particularly with regards to the preparation for SATs and can Hazeldene parents opt to send their children to Newnham in year 5? (c22) d) I would like advice on what we do for A level education? (28) e) What provision/plans have been put into place to ensure Hazeldene children integrate fully with an already established group of Castle Lower children when they arrive at Newnham? It is important that these children do not feel like ’Outsiders’.(44) f) I hear the claims that transition to a new school not benefitting children who may be anxious/need support. Ironically that is my eldest daughter who is now finishing Yr 5 at Goldington and has strived with the new independence required. Don’t see a separate yr 5 / 6 block as beneficial given our experience.(57) g) What will the 6th Form options be?(65) h) Any thought on transitioning from one school (4-16) then suddenly at 16 moving somewhere else.(65) i) Where do they go when they leave Newnham at 16?(73) j) Transition of children currently in Year 3?(75) k) Because the annex will be used for Castle will Hazeldene be then in the main school? (No easy break into ‘Middle school’)(80) l) What happens to out 16 years olds? (no six form)(80)
6.1 Mixing 9 year old and 16 year olds a) How will Newnham handle having some (only just) 9 year olds in the playground with 16 year olds?(06) b) My main concern is the children moving to Newnham at the age of 9/8, which seems young to be sharing a school with 16 year olds. I would be interested in seeing the arrangements for dealing with this. (24) c) Mixing Yr ⅚ with Yr 10/11.(26) d) The influence the older children will have over the Yr 5 and 6s and what the management of such needs to be approached very carefully.(50) e) I would not want to think of Years 5 and 6 students freely mixing with students in Years 10 and 11. Even assuming the behaviour in the older years is impeccable, the life experiences of students in these years are incredibly different. Free mixing in my opinion would make the years 5 and 6 lose a bit of their childhood.(51)
6.2 Meeting the needs of older children a) How will the social growth of children in the oldest cohort be accommodated over the 4 years? (Table 13) b) How will the federation manage one cohort being the oldest in the school for 4 years? (c47)
7.1 SEND, gifted & talented, pastoral care: a) What provision will there be for gifted and talented pupils? (Table 11) b) What GCSE provision will there be for the less able? (c32) c) What provision will there be for able, gifted and talented? (c41)
September 2015 Page 20 of 24 d) What provision will there be for SEND? (c44) e) Will the pastoral care and SEND care be continuous through the year groups?(61) f) http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/jul/04/children-exams-teachers-school-anxiety-nut I would like to know if the Federation will draw up an action plan to address these issues perhaps the schools need to drive home to parents the dangers of anxiety and push for a wider set of performance indicators which include mental well-being. A key facet for me is the development of reflective learning throughout the school - perhaps regular feedback forms which pupils and parents fill in together, which place the emphasis on student feelings - another aim here would be to identify opportunity for greater stretch and challenge. (Article copied to end of this document, accessed 21/07/15 theguardian.com written by James Meikle first published 4th July 2015)(66)
7.2 Quality of teaching a) How will year 5 at Newnham and Hazeldene compare in their preparation for SATS?(Table 9) b) Retention of staff – how will that be handled? (c20) c) Adequate steps are taken to ensure Newnham Middle School is brought up to an excellent standard with good facilities.(53) d) The only worry is the GCSE stage and the quality of education at this level.(76) e) Vertical tutoring?(80)
7.3 Teaching staff a) Staff recruitment? (c13) b) Will teachers be put off by only having GCSE and not A level (26) c) Will teachers specialise in primary/secondary teaching? (36) d) Are we sharing teachers and timetable, or resources?(36) e) Staff stability for children at Newnham between now and 2017?(71) f) Will many teachers need to be hired to be able to provide secondary?(84)
7.4 Teaching ability a) What is the skill set of the current Newnham staff? (Table 4) b) Are teachers at Newnham up to GCSE teaching? (Table 6) c) What’s the quality and experience of existing teachers? (Table 8) d) What will the staffing complement be in terms of experience?(c36) e) What staff will be needed and can they teach GCSE? (x2) (c38) f) What plans are there for partnerships with Upper Schools in the area? (c46) g) Will Newnham be recruiting teachers who have experience of teaching up to GCSE level?(06) h) I am only concerned - about Newnham moving to GCSE - it is a big step. Will teachers who have relevant GCSE experience be employed?(12) i) Getting the quality of teaching for GCSE - how will that be supported?(54) j) Suitability of staff to teach GCSE?(71) k) Area the staff at Newnham equipped to/have the skills & experience to teach at GCSE?(82) l) What will be done to ensure skills / experience gaps are bridged (originally link to GCSE only, but think this applies across the school)(82) m) Teacher training/development/employment with transition from Middle school to teaching GCSE is a concern(90)
7.6 Evidence of capability to achieve good GCSE results a) I would want to be absolutely certain that teaching staff would be subject specialists, when it comes to GCSE teaching. To me it would be important to be convinced that an assumption that any teacher can teach a GCSE subject with a bit of training as to be avoided. If I was unsure about the qualifications, qualities/ experience of the teachers in the Secondary phase, it would most definitely put me off sending my child to the school in the later years.(51)
September 2015 Page 21 of 24 b) It feels like we would be gambling with our children's GCSE grades if we chose Newnham. No track record, teachers trained in different part of the curriculum.(57)
7.7 Range of GCSE subjects a) What will the GCSE subject quality and range look like? (Table 5) b) What will the breadth of GCSE provision be given it will be a “small” school? (Table 12) c) What will the GCSE options be? (x3) (c14) d) Are vocational qualifications completely off the table? (c45) e) Will Newnham be able to offer a full range of GCSE subjects (on what seems like a small site)?(06) f) Size of school would that affect the variety of subjects offered at GCSE level? I think a small Upper School has its advantages, and so just questioning whether being a small Upper School would reduce options for children at KS 3 and 4.(07) g) Are vocational qualifications completely excluded?(67) h) The only concerns I currently have are regarding secondary education choices - will it be limited due to the size of the school?(78)
7.8 Additional activities: a) What sort of clubs will there be? (c15)
8.1 Pupil numbers a) What’s the capacity of the new school? (Table 3) b) What kind of levels are we expected to get? (c16) c) What would be the pupil numbers on the Newnham site?(07)
8.2 Class numbers a) What will the class sizes look like in year 7? (Table 11) b) Will class sizes remain the same? (x2) (c4) c) School numbers and classrooms? (c12) d) How large will the year groups be at the top end of the school? (c25) e) How man y children will there be in Year 7? (c40) f) Class sizes?(80)
8.3 Impact on school ‘social’ abilities a) Less kids to form strong sports teams.(26)
9.1 Use of the school sites: a) How will the facilities of the three sites be used across the schools? (Table 15) b) How will staff interact across the phases? (c1) c) Where will the children be taught?(36) d) Will they move across sites over the week?(36) e) Will there be interaction between the school sites to share resources?(61) f) Will the younger age children have regular opportunities to meet up before arrival on the senior site?(61) g) Any shared facilities i.e. Will castle kids be able to do Sports Day on Newnham Sports field?(65)
9.2 Size of school (space rather than pupils) a) Would it be quite a small site for an Upper School, and if so, would that keep it quite a small school? (Compared with other Upper Schools in Bedford like Biddenham, Mark Rutherford and Sharnbrook?)(07) b) Because there is going to be more pupils won’t the school be more crowded and the playground get smaller and the field.(70)
September 2015 Page 22 of 24 c) How will the school compete with established secondary schools with regards to facilities and options?(78)
9.3 What facilities/buildings are required: a) What facilities will be needed and how will they be implemented?(Table 5) b) What are the facilities and how do they need to be adapted for GCSE provision? (Table 10) c) What building work will be necessary? (c8) d) What building work will be necessary and who will pay for it? (x2) (c26) e) What facilities will there be? (x2) (c37) f) Does Newnham have enough facilities to teach up to GCSE level? (06) g) Facilities need a big up grade. No comparison presently between middle and upper schools (26) h) I do have concerns re: facilities (Science, PE, Tech, etc.) from age 13 upwards. I know at St John Rigby some children leave at Yr 5 due to lack of specialist staff and facilities, so would hope this would be addressed at Newnham.(48) i) Pupils do not get to stay on site for their primary lives. (50) j) The stay till 16 idea is very attractive, but as we didn’t choose Newnham first time around I simply wouldn’t choose it for this reason alone. We were not impressed with the site or the facilities, so to be convinced I would need to see/be assured of great improvements.(57) k) What new facilities will be needed at Newnham to provide for a fully occupied school i.e. the extended age range 13-16 years?(65) l) Are the facilities capable of being suitable for secondary?(84) m) It is unclear whether any new buildings will be required? (91)
9.4 Building work a) What building works will be required and how disruptive will they be? (Table 6) b) How disruptive will the building work be?(c30)
a) How will year 5 on the Newnham and Hazeldene sites compare? (Table 15) b) What will Hazeldene be able to use in Years 5 & 7 at Newnham, and how? (c34)
10. Staff a) Will it be a new contract? (13) b) Will contracts be for working in the whole federation or detailed according to Primary Secondary phase? (13) c) What if there are too many TAs in the Primary Department but gaps in the secondary will TAs be redeployed on a different site? (13) 11.1 Initial funding a) Is funding 100% guaranteed, or not? (Table 1) b) Will £1.75M be enough to make the necessary changes across the schools? (Table 16) c) Funding/savings? (c6) d) Will funding in place/ available? (x2) (c21) e) What building work will be necessary and who will pay for it? (x2) (c26) f) What investment will go into Hazeldene if we go primary? (c35) g) Funding for the extra facilities required at Newnham site? (71) h) What about the funding?(75) i) Funding been enough for all building work to be done?(80) j) Where will the funding for necessary changes come from?(81) k) Whether a budget has been allocated for this work (relation to building)? (91)
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11.2 Long term funding a) Long term school development funding needs to be secure(90)
12. Timescales a) Is this 100% happening? (c17) b) What date will we know if it will go ahead or not?(74)
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