Proposals by the Funding Agency for Schools Item 46
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FUTURE SECONDARY SCHOOL PLACES: PROPOSALS ITEM 46 BY THE FUNDING AGENCY FOR SCHOOLS Contact Officer: Chris Shires Telephone: 0895 250529 SUMMARY Following public consultation on the proposals published by the Funding Agency for Schools (FAS) in late October for the enlargement of six GM secondary schools in Hillingdon, this report : a) outlines the FAS proposals and the Committee’s public consultation process; b) gives further information on the need for more secondary school places in the borough over the next seven years; c) identifies key issues arising from the public consultation; and d) outlines various options for the Committee to consider in making a response to the FAS proposals. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. That the Committee notes the outcomes of the public consultation upon the FAS proposals and the further information in this report about the need for more secondary school places in Hillingdon over the next seven years. 2. That the Committee decides upon its response to the Funding Agency for Schools in the light of the issues and options outlined in this report. INFORMATION The FAS Proposals and the LEA’s Consultation Process 46.1 The Funding Agency for Schools (FAS), which since April this year has had sole responsibility for planning secondary school places in Hillingdon, published a consultative document, “New School Places in Hillingdon”, in late October. This was reported to the Committee on 8 November, and the full FAS document was included as an appendix. It is therefore not reproduced here, but if any member needs another copy the Director of Education’s office will be pleased to provide one. PART I - MEMBERS AND PUBLIC (INCLUDING THE PRESS) Education Committee - 13 December 1994 Page 1 46.2 In brief, the FAS document identifies a need for around 210 more Year 7 places across the borough in September 1999, and proposes the enlargement of six GM secondary schools in various parts of the borough to meet this need. Most of these extra places should be provided before 1999 in order to meet the urgent need to offer parents more choice for their children, the document says. 46.3 The six FAS proposals are as follows : Minimum Proposed New 11-16 Total New New Total Admission New AN Places 11-16 places Forms of Number (AN) Haydon School 193 240 235 1200 8 Mellow Lane School 188 240 260 1200 8 Queensmead School 180 240 300 1200 8 Swakeleys School 145 180 175 900 6 Vyners School 150 180 150 900 6 The Douay Martyrs (a) 194 210 80 1050 7 or (b) 194 240 230 1200 8 46.4 The FAS have used two principal criteria to decide which schools should be enlarged, they explain in para.22 of their document, plus a third criterion affecting Swakeleys School only : (a) Schools in the areas where the increased demand is likely to be greatest; (b) Schools of proven popularity and quality; (c) Redressing the balance between boys’ and girls’ single-sex places in the borough, by enlarging Swakeleys. 46.5 LEA Consultation Process : On 8 November the Committee approved a series of four public meetings in the areas of the borough principally affected by the FAS proposals, and invited representatives of the FAS and of the GM schools concerned to take part in these meetings. The meetings were held between 17 and 30 November, - at Coteford School, for the Eastcote area - at Deanesfield School, for the South Ruislip area - at Belmore School, for the Hayes area - at Breakspear School, for the Ickenham and North Uxbridge area. 46.6 These meetings were attended by between 30 and (at Breakspear School) around 100 people, and were chaired by the Chair of the Education Committee. The regional officer of the FAS spoke about the FAS proposals and answered questions about them from the audience, and the chairs of governors and/or the headteachers of most of the six schools proposed for enlargement attended the relevant area meetings. PART I - MEMBERS AND PUBLIC (INCLUDING THE PRESS) Education Committee - 13 December 1994 Page 2 46.7 The views expressed at these meetings were noted down by LEA officers, and the key issues raised are outlined and commented upon in section 3 of this report. A small number of letters have also been received, including one from the chair of governors of Evelyns School and one from the clerk to the governing body of John Penrose School. These last two letters, from LEA secondary schools, are reproduced as Appendices D and E. The views they express are also commented upon in section 3. Need for More Secondary School Places 46.8 The FAS proposals are based upon the predicted shortage of 210 - 220 places in Year 7 (not across the whole 11-16 age-range) in September 1999. As stated in the FAS consultative document (paragraph 15), the Year 7 pupil numbers used for this prediction are the LEA’s projections, calculated in association with the London Research Centre (LRC). Appendix A to this report gives the year-on-year LRC figures, on lines B.1 and B.2, showing a shortfall of 219 places in Year 7 in September 1999 (8 more than in the FAS figures because the actual total capacity of all the secondary schools is 8 less, at 2671, than the FAS’ figure). 46.9 The shortfall in Year 7 places only begins to be of significant size in September 1998 (at 135), but in practice the position will become very tight for September 1996, when only a marginal “surplus” of 10 places is predicted. This is recognised in the FAS document, which states (in para. 17) : “In practice, as this year’s admissions round has shown, the need is urgent if parents are to have any real choice for their children. We are therefore planning for most of the new Year 7 places to come on-stream before September 1988. That will also give scope to cater for additional pupils should the projections prove to be too low, as we expect”. 46.10 LEA officers agree that, on the most recent trends, the LRC methodology tends to underestimate future pupil numbers in the longer term. A modified method has therefore been used to take account of the current tendency for the older age-groups in primary schools to stay at the same overall size as they move into secondary schools, instead of gradually reducing in size as they grow older (as in past years). This method is referred to in the appendices as “100% progression of age-groups”. 46.11 This method is the one used to calculate all the school by school figures and the totals on lines A1 and A2 in Appendices A and B. As Appendix A shows (on line A2), this method predicts a significant shortfall (54) in Year 7 places in September 1996, compared to the marginal surplus of 10 places predicted by the LRC method. In September 1999 the shortfall grows to 411 using the 100% age-group progression method, compared with the shortfall of 219 produced by the LRC method. PART I - MEMBERS AND PUBLIC (INCLUDING THE PRESS) Education Committee - 13 December 1994 Page 3 46.12 The “100% progression” method thus supports the FAS view that the LRC projections may be too low, and strengthens the case for some new places to be provided by September 1996. It also supports the FAS view that more than 210 new Year 7 places will be needed in September 1999, but goes beyond the FAS proposals for up to 270 new places and suggests that around 410 new Year 7 places could be needed for 1999 across the borough as a whole. 46.13 Children from New Housing Developments : The LRC projections of future secondary pupil numbers do not include any allowance for the additional children to come from new housing which is not yet built. The “100% age-group progression” method does however make some allowance for these additional children, and this is one of the reasons why the figures produced by this method are higher than those resulting from the LRC approach. 46.14 The Peabody Trust housing development in Yeading is however so large (340 housing units) that the numbers of children anticipated from it need to be added to the 100% age- group progression figures. This has accordingly been done in Appendices A, B and C : in each case the figures in brackets include the anticipated secondary-age pupil numbers from the Peabody Trust development, i.e. the “pupil yield”. The bracketed figures incorporate the lower figure next to them in the same column. 46.15 Beyond 1999, the number of children from the Peabody Trust housing reaching secondary school age is expected to rise considerably each year, because the anticipated size of their age-groups is weighted heavily towards children who are currently under the age of six. 46.16 Appendix C shows the future need for places in the Barnhill area, using the definition of “local area” required by the Department For Education for this purpose - all schools within a 3-mile radius of the Barnhill site and within the borough. It compares places in all statutory year groups (11-16) with projected pupil numbers in all these year groups, as required by the DFE for a basic need case. 46.17 The sharp increase in pupils anticipated from new housing after 1999, combined with the overall upward trend in numbers, could lead to a case for a new school in the Barnhill area in the early 2000s. Much depends, however, on how many extra places are created at other schools within three miles of Barnhill in the meantime.