ANNEX A

Consultation Proposal to close School

This eight week consultation seeks to gather opinions on a proposal to close Emberton School. This is the first stage in a five stage statutory process:

What is the current position? Emberton School is a community infant school with an admission number of 12 in each of its three year groups. It is therefore able to accommodate up to 36 children. The catchment area of the school is Emberton, Filgrave, Petsoe and . Children attending Emberton School in Year 2 usually transfer to Olney Middle School. Emberton School is part of the Village Schools Federation. The federation consists of Emberton School, C of E School, C of E School, C of E School, C of E First School and St Andrew’s C of E School. In recent years the school has become less popular and numbers have declined, to the extent that with effect from September 2018, no children are on roll at the school. The school, as an organisation, is no- longer viable, so the Governing Board have asked Council to consult on closing the school.

What is this consultation proposing? Birth data indicates that whilst a small number of children are due to start school in 2019 that live in the catchment area of Emberton School, there are sufficient places at other local infant schools to accommodate these children. In addition, parental preference in recent years shows that the school is not a popular choice for these parents. There is currently no demand expected from new housing in the local area.

As the school is a designated ‘rural’ school, national legislation determines there is a presumption against the closure of rural schools. This does not mean that a rural school shouldn’t close, but the case for closure should be strong and a proposal must clearly be in the best interests of educational provision in the area. When producing a proposal, the proposer must carefully consider:

The likely effect of the closure of the school on the local community Pupil numbers have steadily reduced over recent years and there have been no pupils on roll since September 2018, so there is likely to be little impact on the local community. If the school closes, the governors can consider alternative uses for the site to support education within the local community and across the other federated village schools. The proportion of pupils attending the school from within the local community There are currently no pupils attending the school. Educational standards at the school and the likely effect on standards at neighbouring schools

The school was last inspected by Ofsted in February 2016 and was found to be offering a ‘Good’ standard of education. The next nearest school, Olney Infant Academy, was last judged by Ofsted as ‘Outstanding’. The other local schools were also all last judged to be ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’. Closure of Emberton School is not likely to have a negative impact on the standards at Olney Infant Academy or any other local school. The availability and likely cost to the LA of transport to other schools The school has not been a popular choice with parents for a number of years, and there are currently no pupils on roll. The nearest school to the village of Emberton is Olney Infant Academy. The walking distance from Emberton School to Olney Infant Academy is 1.6 miles and is therefore within the statutory walking distance of two miles for children under the age of eight years. Any pupils who cannot access a school place within two miles walking distance would be eligible for Home to School Transport assistance, although this is estimated to be minimal. Whether the school is now surplus to requirements Emberton School is part of the Ousedale Liaison Group which is projected to have a surplus of over 140 places in Reception for the next three years. The minimal future demand expected from Emberton can be accommodated elsewhere in the local area. This is what is currently happening. Any increase in the use of motor vehicles which is likely to result from the closure of the school, and the likely effects of any such increase Emberton School has not been a popular choice for a number of years and parents are already choosing to access neighbouring schools. Closure of the school is unlikely to have any further impact on the use of motor vehicles within the village. The Village Schools Federation will be able to consider alternative uses for the site to support education across the federation following the outcome of this process. Any alternatives to the closure of the school Governors previously ran a significant marketing campaign, but this did not generate an increase in pupil numbers. Emberton School recently federated with a number of other local village schools. Whilst this has helped to reduce costs, it has had no impact on pupil numbers at the school, and viability remains an issue. Next Steps This consultation will end on 17 March 2019 and seeks views from those directly involved with Emberton School to determine whether the council should progress to the next stage to publish a statutory notice and proposal to progress the closure of the school.

Feedback from this consultation will be considered by the Cabinet Member for Children and Families in May 2019. If the decision is taken to proceed to the next stage, a relevant statutory notice would be published in June 2019 and would provide a 4 week period for people to make representations, as is prescribed by law. Subject to these statutory processes, the final decision could take place in September 2019, to enable the school to close during the 2019/20 academic year.

How can I find out more and contribute to this consultation? The council and Village Schools Federation have arranged drop in sessions at the school for people to find out more and give their views: Emberton School – 4 February 2019, 3.00pm to 4.30pm and 7 February 2019, 6.30pm to 8.00pm These are open to anyone to attend. This consultation seeks views from parents, staff, the local community and any other interested parties. We are keen to hear as many views as possible about this proposal. Please respond by email, stating your name, relationship to school, whether you agree or disagree with the proposal and your comments, to: [email protected] or in writing to Education Sufficiency, Milton Keynes Council, Civic, 1 Saxon Gate East, , MK9 3EJ.