Consultation on the proposed Federation of Ysgol Glantwymyn, Ysgol Llanbrynmair and Ysgol Carno
16th September 2013 until 28th October 2013
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Dear Parent/Guardian/Stakeholder
The Governing Bodies of Ysgol Glantwymyn, Ysgol Llanbrynmair and Ysgol Carno have agreed to carry out a consultation on a proposal to establish an Area School Federation. We are consulting with the parents/carers, staff, and pupils from the three schools, as well as other interested parties including other local primary and secondary schools, local councillors, teaching unions, members of the local communities, the Member of Parliament and Assembly Members for the area.
During the consultation period, a copy of this consultation document will be made available to all parents and key stakeholders, and copies will be available within each school.
Consultation meetings have been arranged for :
Ysgol Llanbrynmair, Tuesday 8th October 2013 Ysgol Carno, Wednesday, 9th October 2013 Ysgol Glantwymyn, Thursday 10th October 2013
All meetings to start at 6pm
Please feel free to join us and officers of the local authority to discuss the proposal.
Signed: Gwion Aeron, Chair of Governors, Ysgol Glantwymyn Iwan Morgan, Chair of Governors, Ysgol Llanbrynmair Bill Snape, Chair of Governors, Ysgol Carno
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The Proposal To establish an Area School Federation between Ysgol Glantwymyn, Ysgol Llanbrynmair and Ysgol Carno by 1st February 2014, under the Federation of Maintained Schools and Miscellaneous Amendments (Wales) Regulations 2010 (Welsh Statutory Instrument W.64, April 2010).
The term „Federation‟ describes a formal and legal agreement by which a number of schools share governance arrangements. The key elements are: There will be a single governing body with strategic oversight of all schools within the Area School Federation. The size of the membership of the governing body of a Federation must be at least 15 and no more than 25 governors; If the establishment of an Area School Federation is agreed following the consultation, the individual governing bodies of each school will be dissolved and replaced by a single governing body (the “Federation Governing Body”) which must be given a new name; Each school retains its own name, category, budget, staff and remains in its own community; Each school has its own Estyn inspection, though increasingly these are co-ordinated to happen at the same / similar time for all schools within the Federation to minimise stress and disruption; The Federation Governing Body can use budget and resources across the Federation to improve the educational outcomes for all pupils. An audit trail must be kept; The Federation Governing Body cannot require existing staff to work across all schools within the Federation. New staff can be appointed to work across schools in the Federation; It is proposed that a single headteacher will be appointed to manage the Area School Federation.
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Why are we making this proposal? 1. In the summer term of 2013, the governing bodies of Ysgol Glantwymyn, Ysgol Llanbrynmair and Ysgol Carno were asked by Powys County Council to consider establishing a formal Federation between the three schools. Having reviewed education in the Machynlleth and Llanidloes catchment areas, the Cabinet of the Council agreed that this was the best way of securing the future sustainability of the excellent Welsh-medium education that is provided in our three communities. 2. Having worked in close partnership for a number of years, the three governing bodies agreed that this was a timely opportunity to consider whether formalising this partnership would lead to better outcomes for learners and provide opportunities to develop a strong Welsh-medium Area School Federation. 3. We have therefore agreed to carry out a consultation to find out the views of the parents, staff and other members of the public in our three communities about the proposal. Within this consultation document you will find information about the benefits and challenges of a Federation, as well as answers to specific questions about how such a Federation would operate.
Why Federation? What are the benefits? 4. By entering into a Federation, the three schools will agree to work together for the benefit of all pupils in the Glantwymyn, Llanbrynmair and Carno areas. There will be a formal arrangement where the schools share a single governing body. The schools retain their separate legal status and have their own budget allocations and Estyn inspections.
5. The shared governance structure will allow the schools to: Work together efficiently and sustainably to raise standards, improve services and increase opportunities for pupils and staff; and Share resources, expertise and facilities.
6. Federations do not bring significant cashable savings to the Local Authority but they can ease financial pressure within schools because resources can be shared and deployed across the Federation.
7. Having a single strategic Federation Governing Body means that the three schools can work formally together to improve opportunities for children. This may lead to: Broader learning and social experiences for children; Strong leadership using more strategic leadership and management structures, allowing school-based leaders to focus on teaching, learning and raising standards;
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Opportunities to develop future leaders; Attractive recruitment opportunities and retention of staff by providing a range of professional development and new career pathways for staff across the Federation; New opportunities for staff to work together, increasing motivation, reducing workload and isolation through shared planning and activities;
8. Rural and small schools, in particular, can benefit from Federation. In Powys, primary schools have faced difficulties in recent years in attracting headteachers to small rural Welsh-medium primary schools in the county. Currently, our three schools have acting headteachers. However, by federating the schools it is proposed that there would be a single headteacher to lead and manage the Federation, supported by a senior teacher based at each of the three sites.
9. Federation can lead to the development of:
An aligned and coherent curriculum, increasing the opportunity to fulfil individual pupils‟ needs, extending curriculum entitlement and giving the potential to share resources. A single Federation Development Plan, single school policies, reducing duplication; More opportunities to share resources, particularly for arts, music and sport;
10. We feel that the Federation will allow each school to keep its own individual character within a strong overarching partnership and each school will be able to learn from each other. There is no blueprint for a Federation but we will have the opportunity to work together to shape our Federation, so that is able to meet the needs of the pupils and communities of Glantwymyn, Llanbrynmair and Carno, developing a strong Welsh-medium Area Federation that will allow educational provision to have a sustainable future in our rural, Welsh-speaking communities.
What are the challenges of Federation? 11. According to the Welsh Government‟s Guidance for Federation1, it is suggested that some of the challenges to taking forward a Federation are as follows: Building trust between governors and school communities; Need to ensure full commitment from all schools involved; Need to develop and agree a shared vision for the school; Need to ensure clear leadership structures;
1 Welsh Government’s Guidance on the Federation process of maintained schools 2011
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Need to ensure sufficient time for all parties to be at ease with the proposed changes; Equality – all partners should feel equal; Increasing the workload of governors, particularly during inception and first year of establishing a Federation; Potential loss of experienced governors; Operational issues – single headteacher focusing too much on one school; Increased workload for a single headteacher; Estyn inspections – currently, Estyn inspects each school within a Federation separately.
12. For a Federation to succeed, it is imperative that trust is developed between the governors and individual school communities. It also requires full commitment from all schools involved and a shared vision for the development of the Federation.
13. Some people question how a Federation can achieve the objectives of the Council‟s School Modernisation Programme, such as addressing surplus capacity, improving the condition of school buildings, and reducing the cost per pupil. The Council agrees that there are significant advantages to establishing Federations in Powys, although it also acknowledges that Federations do not directly address some of these issues. In the Council‟s Primary Organisation Policy2, it is stated that „Federations are to be considered where there are specific issues of a linguistic or rural nature.‟ Both these issues are fundamental to the schools and communities of Glantwymyn, Llanbrynmair and Carno.
2 Powys County Council Primary School Organisation Policy 2006
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Your Questions answered Why federate – can’t benefits be achieved through informal collaboration? A. A formal Federation structure provides a guarantee that the partnership will be permanent and sustainable. A single Governing Body will have the necessary powers to direct, and be accountable for, the teaching and learning that takes place in all the schools with the Federation. It is also able to direct, and be accountable for, how the budget is spent and how resources are allocated. This single responsibility and accountability structure does not exist within an informal collaboration and therefore it would not be able to have such a significant impact. What evidence do you have that Federations are successful? A. Within the Welsh Government document, Guidance to Federations, there are a number of case studies which outline how those schools have benefited from federation. In England, Ofsted published a report in 2011 „Leadership of more than one school – An Evaluation of the Impact of Federated Schools3‟. The report states that „In all the federations visited provision and outcomes had shown improvement. In each case, the fact that schools had federated was a contributory factor to the improvement.’ What are the alternative options to Federation? Each school remains as a separate entity with its own governing body; Two of the schools federate, the other remains separate; The local authority proposes to federate the schools. Currently, local authorities do not have any legislative powers to federate schools – this legislation is currently being developed by the Welsh Government.
Will each school keep its headteacher? A. Currently, Ysgol Llanbrynmair and Ysgol Carno both have acting headteachers. Ysgol Glantwymyn also has a temporary arrangement with the headteacher of Ysgol Dyffryn Banw, who will be the acting headteacher of the school until July 2014. If the Federation was established, it would be expected that there would be a single headteacher (often referred to as an „Executive Head‟) for the three schools. He/she would be supported by a senior teacher (Deputy Headteacher or Assistant Headteacher) at each of the school sites.
3 Leadership of more than one school- An evaluation of the impact of federated schools Ofsted September 2011
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The Federation Governing Body will be responsible for deciding where the headteacher will be situated, but it is expected that he/she will have a space at each school and divide his/her time between each school. Travel expenses would be paid. What support and training will be available for the position of an ‘Executive Head’ as there would be a requirement for strong leadership and management skills?
A. The level of support /training provided to a newly appointed Executive Head will be at a level appropriate to the management and leadership skills of the appointee and the requirements of the new post. Once the Federation appoints an Executive Headteacher, a Personal Development Plan will be agreed and training and support requirements would be identified within this Plan.
What are the Inspection arrangements for Federated Schools? A. Estyn‟s document „When will the next school inspection take place?4‟ sets out guidance on inspecting federated schools. The Education (School Inspection) (Wales) Regulations 2006 require Estyn to inspect maintained schools every six years and produce an individual report for each school. This would also apply to schools in the Federation. Estyn cannot move a school inspection to later than six years but may carry out inspections in a way that the schools in a Federation are inspected in the same term, especially where the schools have the same headteacher. Estyn would also consider requests from a governing body or local authority to inspect schools in the same term. Estyn would also try to ensure that the inspection teams for the schools in a Federation have overlapping membership.
The next round of Estyn inspections are anticipated to take place at the three schools in the autumn term 2014 (Glantwymyn), autumn term 2015 (Carno) and spring term 2016 (Llanbrynmair).
How will school admissions work?
A. Admissions would not be affected – parents would continue to apply for each school separately and admissions would continue to be determined by the local authority. . Will pupils have to travel to different schools during the school day?
A. No. Pupils will remain at their own schools for the average school day. However, on some occasions pupils will be able to visit another school in the Federation for specific extra-curricular activity.
Will each school keep its own name, uniform and school logo?
4 Reference to Estyn’s document
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A. Each school will keep its own uniform and school logo to reflect their individual character and ethos. However, the Federation Governing Body may, in future, decide to have one name, uniform and logo. In considering any such changes the schools should consider the views of pupils, staff and parents. One of the key drivers for Federation is that schools do not lose their individuality and identity and remain as separate establishments. However, the schools and the governing body have to create a name and identity for the Federation as well as their school names which they may wish to use on publications, websites, stationery and school uniform is desired. What will the relationship be between the proposed Federation and the Council’s proposal for a new 4 – 18 school in Machynlleth? A. The Council is proposing to establish a new 4 – 18 school in Machynlleth by amalgamating Ysgol Gynradd Machynlleth and Ysgol Bro Ddyfi, to create a sustainable model of Welsh-medium and bilingual education for the town of Machynlleth and the wider Dyfi Valley area. If both proposals are approved, pupils from Ysgol Glantwymyn, Ysgol Llanbrynmair and Ysgol Carno will join the 4 – 18 school at the age of 11. It will be expected that the Governing Body and headteachers of both the 4 – 18 School and the Federation will work closely to ensure that the pupils from the feeder schools can participate fully in the 4 – 18 school to ensure a smooth transition.
Can a Federation be time-limited?
A. The Regulations do allow individual schools to leave a Federation and for a Federation to be dissolved. These processes will require detailed procedures and specific guidance. However a Federation is seen as a long term commitment. It should not be seen as a quick fix. The respective governing bodies will have considered in depth the benefits and risks of establishing a Federation in relation to the impact on children and young people‟s achievements. A Federation would put in place strategic and operational plans to insure the sustainability and development of the schools. That will require medium to long term planning. What happens if a pupil is excluded from one school in a Federation? Could they be placed in another school in the same Federation?
A. Yes – although schools are federated and share a governing body the schools remain as separate entities so a pupil could not be turned away by one school because he/she had been excluded from another school in the same Federation.
If the pupil is subsequently permanently excluded from the second school within the Federation it is recommended that the pupil discipline committee that meets to consider the exclusion consists of members of
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the governing body un-associated with the consideration of the first exclusion.
This recommendation is in order to avoid possible bias that could be considered with relation to the first exclusion. Whilst it may not always be possible to provide a complete discipline committee of new governing body members any such circumstances should be discussed with the local authority in the first instance.
What does it mean for school governance?
A. We propose that a federated governing body of 20 members is established which will include the following categories of governor to provide a balance from each school, as far as is possible within the Regulations:
6 parents 3 local authority representatives 2 teachers 2 staff (non-teacher) 3 community 1 headteacher 3 additional community
Additional non-voting members may attend meetings of the federated governing body.
In addition to the main federated governing body sub-committees will be established by the full governing body. The number of sub- committees established by a governing body is dependent on how the governing body wishes to function. In respect of the federation of Glantwymyn, Llanbrynmair and Carno it is proposed that the governing body establishes a minimum of 3 sub-committees, with each sub- committee considering issues relating to one of the school sites.
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Budget and Staffing
What does it mean for staff? A. In the Federation, all current teaching and teaching-support staff would be employed on the same conditions of service as now and by the same employer, Powys County Council. However, the federated school governing body may decide to appoint any new staff to work within all schools in the Federation, and this would be reflected in their contract of employment. All non-teaching staff (cleaning and catering) are employed centrally by Powys County Council and there will be no changes to their terms of employment. What will be the senior leadership structure for the Area School Federation? A. It is proposed that the senior leadership structure will be as follows: Executive Headteacher Deputy Headteacher Assistant Headteacher Assistant Headteacher What happens to the school budget? A. Each school in a Federation remains a legally separate institution and maintains its individual school budget. Whilst each school receives and must account for its own separate budget, under a Federation arrangement they may „pool‟ budgets.
Federation works on the basis that all schools have their own particular strengths and advantages, whether it is facilities, staff or resources, and allows for improved, more coherent strategic and financial planning. Federations could use their greater buying power of the pooled budgets.
Who would decide on the split of budget between the schools? A. The Council would agree the delegated budget for the three schools but the Federation Governing Body could agree to pool the budget.
What happens if one school is in deficit and another in surplus? Who would be responsible for sorting that out? A. The Federation Governing Body would have responsibility about the management of the budget across the three schools. Funding for each individual school could also be ring-fenced to that school. However, all three schools currently have surplus budgets. Federation is not intended to be used as a tool to help schools who find themselves with financial problems.
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Will the schools be funded on the same formula as other schools if they are part of a Federation? A. Yes. As part of the Council‟s funding formula, schools are funded on the number of pupils and on other non-teaching costs. If the three schools were to be merged to become a single school, the formula would calculate a single budget which would be smaller than the budget of a three-school Federation, and there would be a split-site allowance. Is there any additional funding available to support the Federation?
A. At the moment, it is not the view of the Council that any additional funding is required to take forward the Federation but it may be possible to discuss this further, if required.
Current Leadership Posts Funded
School Pupils Scale Min Max Funded* Funded Salary Salary
Headteacher Ysgol Carno 45 L 6 - 12 42,379 49,130 Ysgol Llanbrynmair 43 L 6 - 12 42,379 49,130 Ysgol Glantwymyn 86 L 7 - 13 43,521 50,359
Deputy Headteacher Ysgol Glantwymyn L 1 - 5 37,461 41,343
Total 174 165,740 189,962
Funded Range for School of 174 Pupils
Head L 10 - 16 Deputy L 4 - 8
Proposed Leadership Structure for Federated School Executive Head L 12 - 18 49,130 56,950 Deputy Head L 4 - 8 40,339 44,525
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Assistant Head L 1 - 5 37,461 41,343 Assistant Head L 1 - 5 37,461 41,343 Less 1 TLR 2a at (2,535) (2,535) Carno Less 1 TLR 2a at (2,534) (2,534) Llanbrynmair
Total 159,322 179,092
Projected Savings 6,418 10,870
Savings as % of Teacher on UPS 3 0.17 0.30
Management Time Funded Ysgol Carno 0.30 0.30 Ysgol Llanbrynmair 0.30 0.30 Ysgol Glantwymyn 0.40 0.40
Total Management Time Including Savings 1.17 1.30
Proposed Management and Teaching Time for Leadership Team
Managemen PPA Teachin t Time Time g Time
Executive Head 0.90 0.00 0.10 Deputy Head 0.10 0.10 0.80 Assistant Head 0.10 0.10 0.80 Assistant Head 0.10 0.10 0.80
Total 1.20 0.30 2.50
*based on January 2013 pupil numbers on roll
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Current Profile of Schools B. Ysgol Glantwymyn, Ysgol Llanbrynmair Ysgol Carno Cemmaes Road, Llanbrynmair Carno Machynlleth, Powys Powys Powys SY20 8LX SY19 7AB SY17 5LE
Number on 75 44 36 roll Sept 2013 Language Welsh-medium Welsh-medium Welsh-medium
Headteacher Acting – joint head Acting Acting situation with Banw and Llanerfyl Last Estyn Sept 2008 March 2010 Nov 2009 Inspection5 7 x Grade 2 6 x Grade 2 7 x Grade 2 1 x Grade 3 Buildings6: B,C,C B,B,C B,D,C Condition/ Suitability/ Sustainability
Classes 4 2 2 Budget (Sept £321,846 £185,821 £180,998 2013)
5.Explanatory Note: Estyn Inspection Grades prior to the introduction of a new Inspection Framework in 2010
Grade 1: Good with outstanding features Grade 2: Good with no important shortcomings Grade 3: Good features outweigh shortcomings Grade 4: Some good features, but shortcomings in important areas Grade 5: Many important shortcomings
6 Welsh Government School Building Assessment 2009:
Condition
A – Good (No Deterioration) B – Satisfactory (Minor Detearation) C – Poor (Major Detearation) D – Bad (Life Expired)
Suitability A - Good - Suitable levels for Teaching, Learning and Well Being in Schools B - Reasonable - but Behaviour / morale adversely and management affected C - Poor - Teaching methods inhibited D - Bad - Severe situation and / or Unable to teach the curriculum
Sustainability A – Excellent B- Good or Above Average C – Poor D – Bad or Non Existent
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Process and Timescales
Sept 16th 2013 – Oct 28th 2013 6 week consultation
Joint meeting of Governing November 2013 Bodies to consider responses
Governing Bodies meet individually to make final decision
6 week consultation
Agree to Agree not to
federate federate
Process ends
Develop new Instrument of Governance for the single December 2013 Governing Body
Single Governing Body meets to elect chair and vice- 1st February 2014 chair
Federation established
Spring Term 2014 Begin process of recruiting Headteacher for the
Federation
Work begins on aligning school policies and
procedures
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Consultation Response Form
Your name:
Organisation (if applicable)
Email/telephone number:
Your address:
Do you think that a formal Federation to include Ysgol Glantwymyn, Ysgol Llanbrynmair and Ysgol Carno should be established?
Yes No Not sure
Please give your reasons with as much explanation as possible in the box below.
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If you have any related issues which we have not specifically addressed in the previous questions, please use this space to report them:
Please let us have your comments by the 28th October 2013 by:
Completing the attached response form and handing it in at one of the schools (there is a sealed box in each school‟s reception area)
Sending your completed response form by post to the School Modernisation Team, Powys County Council, Llandrindod Wells, Powys LD 5LG marked „Federation consultation‟.
E-mailing your completed response form to the following address: [email protected] (electronic copies of the form are available on each school‟s website).
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