The Swanage School: an Exceptional Application for 2013 Education Swanage is submitting its application for the Swanage School, which we propose to open in September 2013. There a number of important reasons why we are applying a year early: The timing of the opening is critical as we will be dovetailing with the reorganisation of the local pyramid from three-tier to two-tier education. The town middle school will close in July 2013, leaving Swanage as the only town in Dorset with no secondary education and a journey of 10 miles to the nearest secondary school. An extended lead-time will help ensure that our school is ready to accept pupils in September 2013. o We will receive pupils who are in the upper two years at the middle school at that time as well as our first intake from the new primaries. With three full year groups – in Years 7, 8 and 9 – we need time to ensure the right staff and resources are in place. o Although it is possible we could be ready, opening the Swanage School in 2012 is not desirable as it would undermine the final year of the middle school, creating extra disruption for pupils, parents and teaching staff. Given the major upheaval the local pyramid is facing, an early decision on the success of the bid would enable better planning and use of public money: o The LA are planning to enlarge the upper school – the Purbeck School in Wareham – into a secondary. A change to education provision in Swanage would significantly affect the scale of capital investment required. If a decision is delayed until 2012, the LA cannot wait on the outcome and public money will have to be spent on building work that might prove unnecessary. o Similarly, if we were to wait and gain approval in 2012, any subsequent delay due to unforeseen circumstances that pushed the opening back a year to September 2014 would leave hundreds of students with no classroom accommodation or teachers. An extended lead time will reduce this risk. o We want to mitigate the effect on students and teaching staff at other schools in the district. The sooner a decision is made, the sooner the Purbeck School can make definite plans for opening as a secondary based on accurate numbers. o The local community have already endured three years of uncertainty during the schools consultation, which has led to some families moving away. Local parents are seeking assurances that the Swanage School will open and it will be difficult to maintain trust and momentum in our campaign for another year. The availability of premises for the school is also time-sensitive as the sites form part of an upcoming local area planning strategy. Purbeck District Council’s consultation this autumn will encompass housing, sports and health provision in Swanage. o There is strong interest in our preferred site from other parties who may benefit from any delay or uncertainty in the free school process. o Both District and Town Councils support our bid and would welcome an early decision on the free school so that sites can be allocated for other important community goals such as a new health centre and affordable housing for families. For the benefit of Swanage children and their parents, the wider local community, neighbouring schools and the LA, Education Swanage requests that an exception be made by accepting and considering this year its application to open the Swanage School in 2013. Section 1: Applicant details Details of Company Limited by Guarantee Name: EDUCATION SWANAGE LIMITED Company address: <Redacted> <Redacted> SWANAGE DORSET <Redacted> Company registration number: 7613612 Main contact Name: <Redacted> Address: <Redacted>, SWANAGE, DORSET, <Redacted> Email address: <Redacted> Telephone number: <Redacted> Members and Directors Please confirm the total number of (a) Company Directors (7) and (b) any other members of the Governing Body (0) appointed to date and list them below. Please also confirm who the proposed Chair of the Governing Body is. Name: <Redacted> Position: <Redacted> Name: <Redacted> Position: <Redacted> Name: <Redacted> Position: <Redacted> Name: <Redacted> Position: <Redacted> Name: <Redacted> Position: <Redacted> Name: <Redacted> Position: <Redacted> Name: <Redacted> Position: <Redacted> Name: <Redacted> Position: <Redacted> Name: <Redacted> Position: <Redacted> Name: <Redacted> Position: <Redacted> Name: <Redacted> Position: <Redacted> Related organisations Does the Company Limited by Guarantee have any links (through the members, directors or otherwise) with any other charitable or commercial organisation? YES If Y please provide their name and Charity Commission number and describe the role that it is envisaged to play in relation to the Free School: There are no formal/contractual relationships with either the Co-operative College (charity number 1060008) or Human Scale Education (charity number 1000400). However, both are supporters and advisors to Education Swanage Limited. If your organisation is an existing independent school, please provide your six digit unique reference number: Declaration to be signed by a Company Director Section 1 2 I confirm that the information provided in this application is correct to the best of my knowledge and that if the application is successful the Company will operate a Free School in accordance with the requirements outlined above and the requirements of the Independent Schools Standards* and the Funding Agreement with the Secretary of State. Signed: Print Name: <Redacted> Date: Section 1 3 Section 2: Outline of the school Proposed school name: THE SWANAGE SCHOOL Age range: 11 to 16 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Proposed numbers in each Reception year group at point of Year 1 opening and explanation Year 2 of how pupil numbers Year 3 will expand to fill the Year 4 Year 5 school over time. Year 6 Year 7 84 84 84 84 84 84 If your application Year 8 84 84 84 84 84 84 includes nursery Year 9 84 84 84 84 84 84 provision, please add Year 10 84 84 84 84 84 additional rows as Year 11 84 84 84 84 appropriate. Year 12 Year 13 If an existing independent school, provide details of your latest inspection (including the report), NO current numbers on roll and total capacity of school. Will your school have a religious character (i.e. be a faith school)? If Y, please specify which NO faith. Please see notes below (at the end of this table). Is this an application for a No. If Y, please tick one of the following boxes single-sex school? If so, Boys please tick the relevant Girls box. Local authority area in which the school would be situated (and if near to DORSET (POOLE is notionally adjacent but separated by a a LA boundary please chain ferry and BOURNEMOUTH is nearby) include names of neighbouring LAs). Section 2 4 Section 3: Educational Vision Introduction: a local education offering excellence for all The aim of Education Swanage is to give young people the opportunity to be educated to a high standard within their own community, providing a rewarding experience they can take into their adult lives. We aim to open a new school in Swanage in 2013, offering parents and young people the choice of an excellent locally based secondary education. The school is required because from 2013 there will be no secondary provision within 10 miles, despite the town population being over 10,000 (see figure 1). The school will serve the local learning community and lend support to the regional economy. Swanage is situated at the eastern end of the Jurassic Coast, the UK's first natural UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is visited by thousands of students from around the world every year. The town is a recognised centre of heritage, literary and arts activity alongside the broader tourism and visitor industries. The Swanage School will be a unique legacy for the future, set in the best outdoor classroom in the world. The school will contribute to driving up the overall quality of educational provision and standards in the local area, notably seeking to improve on the percentage of students achieving 5 GCSEs A*-C including Maths and English, and the English Baccalaureate. The school will encourage greater innovation in the educational provision available by engaging with and modelling a wider range of approaches to learning. Our intention is to provide a value-for-money system of education that will be focused on intellectual rigour and traditional values, and that will place the quality of relationships at the heart of the school. Our aim is that the self-sustaining educational community we create will be at the heart of learning in the local area and over time will become recognised as a centre of innovation and excellence at both a national and international level. Rationale Dorset County Council is undertaking a reorganisation of local schools from three-tier to two-tier and will close Swanage’s middle school in 2013. This means over 500 local children will have to make a round trip of at least 20 miles a day to access their nearest secondary school. Swanage will become the only town in Dorset with no secondary provision and we cannot find another town in the UK that has to send so many children so far. We believe that it is not in the educational or social interests of children and young people to make such lengthy journeys away from their community each day. The Dorset School’s Forum say: Disadvantaged children, through rural deprivation or any other cause, benefit from attending their local school, either primary or secondary. They are more likely to be able to access the curriculum and any extended school services. We also want to drive up standards of educational achievement in the area.