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MATTERS TO BE SPECIFIED IN SECTION 15 PROPOSALS TO DISCONTINUE A SCHOOL Extract of Schedule 4 to The School Organisation (Establishment and Discontinuance of Schools)(England) Regulations 2007 (as amended): Contact details 1. The name of the LA or governing body publishing the proposals, and a contact address, and the name of the school it is proposed that should be discontinued. East Riding of Yorkshire Council, County Hall, Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, HU17 9BA Dunswell Primary School Implementation 2. The date when it is planned that the proposals will be implemented, or, where the proposals are to be implemented in stages, information about each stage and the date on which each stage is planned to be implemented. 31 August 2014 Consultation 3. A statement to the effect that all applicable statutory requirements to consult in relation to the proposals were complied with. All statutory requirements for consultation have been adhered to. 4. Evidence of the consultation before the proposals were published including: a) a list of persons and/or parties who were consulted; b) minutes of all public consultation meetings; c) the views of the persons consulted;and d) copies of all consultation documents and a statement of how these were made available. a) The consultation has included: Staff, Governors and parents of children attending Dunswell Primary School Staff, Governors and parents of children attending Woodmansey CE VC Primary School Ward Councillors Dunswell Parish Council 1 Woodmansey Parish Council David Davis MP Cottingham High School Beverley High School Beverley Grammar School Trades Unions and professional associations York Diocesan Board of Education b)Minutes of the public consultation meetings are attached as Appendix 1. c) Responses to the consultation from parents, children, staff, governors and members of the local community are enclosed as Appendix 2. Responses were made available to Cabinet members when considering the publication of the proposals. d)Consultation documents were sent to all consultees by post and email. They were also available on the Council’s website and could be obtained from the School Organisation Officer. The consultation documents are enclosed as Appendix 3. Objectives 5. The objectives of the proposal. The objective of the proposal is improve the efficient use of school funding and to achieve a more efficient organisation of schools. There have been a number of meetings, discussions and exchanges of correspondence between Dunswell Primary School and the Council in recent years concerning the adequacy and suitability of the school’s accommodation and facilities. There have also been discussions on the potential impact that a proposed new school on the Kingswood Parks estate in Hull, due to open in September 2014, could have on pupil numbers at Dunswell Primary School. Dunswell Primary School - Pupil Numbers Dunswell Primary School is classified by the Department of Education as a rural school. The school has capacity for 84 pupils. Eighty nine pupils were on roll in the October 2012 pupil census. Of these 89 pupils, 22 live in the Dunswell catchment area. This means that 67 (74%) of the pupils on roll are from other schools’ areas, including 39 who live on the Kingswood Parks estate. Pupil numbers have fluctuated over the years and were as low as 59 children in 2007. These fluctuations can be caused by a variety of factors including the availability of places at alternative schools and the relative popularity of both Dunswell Primary School and other accessible primary schools. A table showing the actual and projected numbers on roll at the 2 school is included in the consultation document enclosed as Appendix 1. Schools with a low proportion of catchment area children are much more dependent on and susceptible to a range of external factors which can affect their pupil numbers. Such schools can be subject to wide fluctuations in numbers over relatively short periods of time. Small schools can be particularly vulnerable to such fluctuations because a small movement in numbers can represent a significant proportion of the school’s pupils on roll. Woodmansey CE VC Primary School – Pupil Numbers Woodmansey CE VC Primary School has capacity for 52 pupils and had 55 pupils on roll in October 2012. Of these 55 pupils, 34 live in the school’s catchment area and 21 (38%) of the pupils live in the catchment areas of other schools, with 14 living on the Kingswood Parks estate. As with Dunswell Primary School, pupil numbers have fluctuated over the years: just 22 were on roll in 2006. The school’s popularity has improved since 2006 but, as with Dunswell, a significant proportion of the school’s pupils are from outside the catchment area. Proposed New Primary School – Kingswood Estate Plans are being progressed by Hull City Council to open a 315 place primary school with nursery facilities on the Kingswood estate. Capital funding for the scheme has been approved and a building contractor has been appointed. There have been several consultation events, the latest in March 2013, where the plans for the new school were on display and representatives from the City Council and the contractor were present to discuss the proposals. A planning application has been submitted and it is anticipated that work will start on site in the summer. The new school would open in September 2014 and there is also an option for future expansion which would increase the capacity to 420 places. Extensions to other schools in the area would be considered if required to meet the future demand from the estate. Over 40% of the children on roll at Dunswell live on the Kingswood Parks estate. A smaller number of children from the same area attend Woodmansey CE VC Primary School. Most parents prefer to send their child to a local school. The primary school on Kingswood Parks is likely to be an attractive option for parents from the Kingswood estate given its location and ease of access, its modern accommodation and nursery provision. Some parents will still prefer to send their children to a rural or village school. However, it is highly likely that the demand for places in East Riding schools from parents living on Kingswood will be substantially reduced. School Funding 3 The East Riding of Yorkshire Council receives one of the lowest levels of funding for schools in the country. The new national funding arrangements for schools introduced this year also mean that there is now more limited local discretion in determining local funding formulae. Local authorities are therefore less able to adopt local funding formulae which suit the existing arrangements of schools and the current distribution of pupils between schools. The patterns of school place provision in East Riding have been reviewed to see if changes can be made which will ensure that the limited funding available is distributed to schools in a way which secures the most effective use of that funding for the education of children. Since 2000, we have closed or amalgamated 20 schools, small and large. By doing this, we have redistributed nearly £2 million to all schools in East Riding. The schools that have taken pupils in from the closed schools will also have received the pupil led funding which has helped to make these schools more viable and sustainable. If a primary school is closed, the lump sum element of the school’s funding (£130,000) is distributed to the remaining primary schools through the other factors in the local funding formula. The funding allocated under the Minimum Funding Guarantee is also redistributed in the same way. The schools receiving the pupils on roll at the school which is closed also benefit by receiving more per pupil funding. With regards to the financial position of the two schools affected by this review, both Dunswell Primary School and Woodmansey CE VC Primary School currently have surplus balances and are expected to be viable in the foreseeable future. As with other small schools, the cost per pupil in each school is above the average for schools in East Riding. Under the 2013/2014 financial year funding formula, Dunswell Primary School will receive £404,709, based on 89 pupils being on roll, equivalent to £4,547 per pupils. Woodmansey CE VC Primary School, with 60 pupils on roll, will receive £379,766, equivalent to £6,329 per pupil. The average per pupil cost of the 42 primary schools with up to 100 pupils on roll is £5,099 and for all schools is £3,737. Although Dunswell Primary School’s financial position is more advantageous in many ways than that of the school in Woodmansey at present, it is more susceptible to the potential competition for pupil numbers that will arise when the new school in Hull opens. There are also a range of other factors which have to be taken into account. Standards and Diversity 6. A statement and supporting evidence indicating how the proposals will impact on the standards, diversity and quality of education in the area. 4 Dunswell Primary school was inspected by OfSTED in 2010 when it was judged to be satisfactory. In a more recent inspection in 2012, the school was judged to require improvement. The latest inspection was undertaken under the new framework for inspection where there is no longer a category of ‘Satisfactory’. Woodmansey CE VC Primary School was last inspected in 2011 when it was judged to be satisfactory. It has not been inspected under the new OfSTED Dunswell Primary School is a community School, Woodmansey CE VC Primary School is a denominational voluntary controlled school. There are 76 non-denominational primary schools in East Riding of Yorkshire and 49 primary schools with a religious character.

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