CABINET – 16 JUNE 2015

PROPOSALS TO DEVELOP A NEW PRIMARY SCHOOL FOR THE AND FOREST EAST AREAS- EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST FROM ACADEMY PROPOSERS

REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES

Purpose of Report

1. To advise the Cabinet of the expressions of interest received from academy proposers (sponsors) to operate the new 210 place primary school (academy) to serve the Braunstone Town and East areas in , and to make recommendations to the Secretary of State for Education to enable a decision to be taken on a preferred sponsor for the new school.

2. The Cabinet will also be asked to consider an exempt report on the expressions of interest, which is also on the agenda for this meeting, which includes further details for each of the four academy proposers.

Recommendations

3. It is recommended that:

(a) The expressions of interest received from academy proposers to operate the new 210-place primary school to serve the Braunstone Town and Leicester Forest East areas are noted;

(b) All four of the academy proposers which have expressed an interest, are recommended to the Secretary of State for Education (with whom the decision rests), as potential suitable sponsors to operate the new school and that the Secretary of State be advised that given the strength of the four applications received there is no reason to suggest that it would be necessary to look elsewhere to secure an academy sponsor;

(c) It be noted that further information will be provided in due course to the Cabinet and Local members once the decision on a preferred sponsor has been taken by the Secretary of State, and confirmed by the Department for Education (DfE).

Reasons for Recommendations

4. The Education Act 1996 places a statutory duty on the Local Authority (LA) to ensure a sufficient supply of school places.

5. Development of a new 210-place primary school to serve the Braunstone and Leicester Forest East areas, planned to open in September 2016, recognises the significant increase in demand for school places, which is beginning to exceed the available capacity of the four local primary schools.

6. Seeking expressions of interest from suitable academy proposers (sponsors) is in keeping with the requirements placed on the Local Authority by the section 6A (the academy/free school presumption) of the Education and Inspections Act 2006, as introduced by the Education Act 2011.

7. The expressions of interest process followed has helped to confirm the expertise, capacity, experience and other credentials necessary to run the new school, of those organisations that have applied.

8. Ensuring that all organisations recommended to the Secretary of State for consideration are already ‘approved’ sponsors on the DfE register, will help demonstrate their capabilities and should enable an early decision to be taken.

Timetable for Decisions (including Scrutiny)

9. Subject to agreement to the recommendations above, it is proposed that the four expressions of interest received, accompanied by the detailed evaluation undertaken by officers, and a copy of the Cabinet reports and minutes of the meeting, be forwarded at the earliest opportunity to the DfE (Academy Presumption Team) to enable a decision to be taken by the Secretary of State. It is hoped that the Secretary of State will advise the Council of her decision before the start of the autumn term 2015, in order that early work with the selected academy sponsor on the opening arrangements for the new school can begin.

10. The Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee has previously been provided with the opportunity to comment on the proposals for the new school as part of the consultation, on 1st September 2014 and 3rd November 2014. A copy of this report and the exempt paper has been circulated to the Chairman and Spokesmen of the Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the consideration and any comments received will be reported to the Cabinet.

Policy Framework and Previous Decisions

11. On 9th September 2013 the Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee considered a report on the provision of school places in , which set out the emerging demands in each District, and highlighted the Braunstone catchment area (within the ) as one of immediate priority.

12. The Cabinet subsequently agreed on 17th June 2014 to consult on the establishment of a new 210-place primary school to serve the Braunstone Town and Leicester Forest East, to be developed on a site off Holmfield Avenue West, Leicester.

13. In December 2014 the Director of Children and Family Services was authorised to take action to enable the design and development of the new

school in readiness for September 2016 admissions and seek expressions of interest from suitable academy proposers (sponsors) to operate the school.

14. The proposal to establish the new school is in keeping with the statutory duty placed on the local authority to maintain a sufficient supply of school places. The priorities set out in the Strategy document ‘In the Right Place – Strategy for the provision of school and other educational places in Leicestershire 2014-18’ (approved by the Cabinet in November 2014), and identifies Braunstone Town and Leicester Forest East as areas where early action needs to be taken to meet a growing demand for primary places.

15. The Education Act 2011 changed the arrangements for establishing new schools and introduced section 6A (the academy/free school presumption) to the Education and Inspections Act 2006. In accordance with guidance subsequently issued by the DfE in October 2014, where a local authority considers there is a need for a new school in its area it must seek proposals to establish an academy/free school. The local authority is responsible for providing the site for the new school and meeting all associated capital and pre-/post-opening costs.

Resource Implications

16. There are no immediate resource implications arising from the recommendations in this report.

17. The Medium Term Financial Strategy 2014/15 made provision of £500,000 to deliver the Children and Family Services capital programme 2014/17, and provides for the costs associated with seeking expressions of interest from academy proposers for the new school.

18. The costs associated with the construction and opening of the new 210-place primary school were reported to the Cabinet on 11th December 2014, and are covered further in Part B to this report, below.

19. The Director of Corporate Resources and County Solicitor have been consulted in the preparation of this report.

Circulation under the Local Issues Alert Procedure

20. Mrs J Fox CC, Mr G Welsh CC, Mrs J Dickinson CC, Mr R Blunt CC

Officers to contact

Lesley Hagger, Director of Children and Family Services Tel 0116 305 6340 email: [email protected]

Gill Weston, Assistant Director Education, Skills and Learning, Children and Family Services Tel 0116 305 7813 email: [email protected]

David Atterbury, Head of Strategy (Education Sufficiency) Children and Family Services Tel 0116 305 7729 email: [email protected]

PART B

Background

21. The Braunstone Town and Leicester Forest East (and nearby ) areas are currently served by four primary schools: Ravenhurst Primary School, Kingsway Primary School and the Millfield L.E.A.D Academy, all of which share a combined catchment area, and Stafford Leys Primary Academy which has a separate catchment area serving the main part of Leicester Forest East.

22. The existing primary schools have done well to manage the increased demand for places so far, but most have quite constrained sites and limited potential to further increase their capacity without compromising the quality of the education provided.

23. Previous reports on the development of additional places have identified this area as one where the demand for primary school places in particular was expected to increase significantly in future years. This is as a consequence of increased births, a significant rise in the number of families moving into the area, and a decrease in the number of families with young children moving out of the area prior to the children starting school.

24. A new primary school will help relieve the pressure on the other schools in the area whilst providing greater choice for parents and pupils. A new school would also offer the opportunity to improve education generally by strengthening local partnerships and collaborative working, and bringing new expertise and knowledge to the area.

25. Mindful of the above position, and after consideration of the results of public consultation undertaken in the autumn 2014, the Cabinet agreed that the Director of Children and Family Services take early action to enable the design and development of a new 210-place primary school to serve the Braunstone and Leicester Forest East area, and commence the process of seeking expressions of interest from suitable academy proposers (sponsors) for its operation.

Inviting Expressions of Interest

26. Expressions of Interest to operate the proposed new primary school were invited over a six week period from Friday 23rd January to Friday 6th March 2015. To ensure a wide coverage, information was published on the DfE national list of local authorities seeking academy or free school proposers, and on the County Council’s school organisation webpage. To encourage interest from local academy proposers, information was directly sent to all successful Multi Academy Trusts operating in Leicestershire schools that were known to have an interest in sponsorship opportunities.

27. Each organisation expressing an interest was provided with access to an information booklet ‘Information for Academy Proposers’ and a detailed application form. The information booklet, which covered the background, specification for the new school, application process, timeline, assessment criteria and the Council’s expectancies of the selected sponsor, may be accessed via the following link; http://ow.ly/NRU0o This information was also

shared with the primary schools in the area to ensure that they were kept appraised of the proposals for the establishment of the new school.

Expressions of Interest received

28. Expressions of Interest to operate the proposed new primary school were invited over a six week period from Friday 23rd January to Friday 6th March 2015. By the closing date four expressions of interest, all from DfE approved sponsors, had been received. These were from:

 The Diocese of Leicester Academy Trust (DLAT) – currently operating a range of 11 Church of England primary school academies in Leicestershire. Their proposal for the new school would see DLAT working in partnership with the Forest Way Teaching Alliance, Unity Learning Partnership and the St Philip’s Centre Leicester.

 Discovery Schools Academy Trust (DSAT) – currently operating a range of 7 primary schools in Leicestershire and Leicester. Their proposal for the new school would see DSAT working in partnership with the Affinity Teaching School Alliance and Kingsway and Ravenhurst Primary Schools (both members of the Teaching School Alliance).

 L.E.A.D. Academy Trust – currently operating 12 primary schools in Nottingham, Newark and Leicestershire (including the Millfield LEAD Primary academy in Braunstone). L.E.A.D. also operates a teaching school alliance comprising 47 members, and plan to sponsor a secondary school from later this year.

 Mowbray Education Trust (MET) – a relatively new but successful multi- academy trust currently operating one secondary and four primary schools within the Melton Mowbray area (and given support to a further two schools in Grantham). MET would work in close partnership with Brownlow Primary, one of the Trust schools, to operate the new school.

29. Each of the above organisations are listed as ‘approved’ sponsors on the DfE register, which means that they have demonstrated their suitability to support other schools.

30. An executive summary provided by each organisation to support their application is included with the exempt report to the Cabinet. That report is exempt because it contains information relating to the financial or business affairs of the academy proposers.

The Assessment Process

31. In keeping with DfE guidance for the academy and free school presumption, the County Council is required to assess all proposals received and forward to the Secretary of State for a decision. The fundamental purpose of the assessments undertaken has been to satisfy the County Council in relation to each Academy Trust of;

 The capacity to establish a new school on the basis of high expectations and high performance to continue to drive up standards and excellence within the primary school system, in particular for the most vulnerable children.

 A strong desire and vision to work closely with other education providers in the locality to promote partnership working and community cohesion.

 Evidence of a proven track record of school improvement or sustained high standards and how the proposed governance model will drive and support high standards.

32. A detailed evaluation of all four expressions of interest has been undertaken in accordance with the assessment criteria provided within the Information for Academy Proposers document. This has followed a three stage process, comprising the initial written application, a presentation and interview by shortlisted proposers, and finally a visit to an existing similar academy that they currently operate. Each stage of the application process was allocated a weighted score as outlined below, and the total scores for each stage were aggregated to determine an overall evaluation mark to for each applicant.

Assessment Activity % of total Stage score Stage 1 All applicants to complete the application 40% form and submit with any accompanying information Shortlisting (if required) Stage 2a Short presentation by shortlisted 40% applicants and interview by officer selection panel Stage 2b Visit to academies/free school currently 20% operated by shortlisted applicants Total Score Addition of scores from Stages 1 and 100% 2a/b

Stage 1

33. For this stage the information provided on the application form and any supporting documents was assessed and scored against eight key areas;

 The Applicants’ relevant experience, general credentials and background  The Applicants’ Educational Vision for the new school.  The Applicants’ capacity to deliver school improvement and high quality outcomes for children and young people, underpinned by excellent teaching and learning practice.  The Applicants’ understanding of the local context in which the new school will operate.  The Applicants’ plan for effective community engagement, with particular emphasis on partnership/collaborative working and involving parents and carers.  Evidence of strong leadership and management.  Organisational capacity and evidence of strong governance structures, and good financial management.  Evidence of well thought out proposals for opening arrangements for the new school, with particular relevance to recruitment, staffing structures and admissions arrangements.

Stage 2a

34. For this stage applicants (all were shortlisted to progress) were invited to attend a meeting with an Officer Selection Panel to give a short presentation of their proposals followed by a question and answer session. The intention was to probe more deeply into certain aspects of the application, specifically how each Trust could contribute to the success of the new school and the arrangements for its opening. The interview also gave the Panel a better understanding of the resource capacity of each of the applicants.

Stage 2b

35. This comprised a visit by officers to an existing (and broadly similar) school operated by each Trust, to find out more about policy and practice, with particular emphasis on performance, leadership and governance.

Results of Evaluation

36. A summary of the applicants’ scores for Stage 1 and a summary table of overall scores is included with the exempt report.

37. Overall the assessment process confirms that all four of the Academy trusts that have expressed an interest to operate the new school are considered suitable to be recommended to the Secretary of State for a decision, and in terms of the application process, all are considered to have done well given that this is the first time that any have applied to operate a new school.

Other Considerations

Funding Arrangements

38. As this new school will be an Academy, the successful Academy Trust will need to enter into a revenue funding agreement with the Secretary of State for Education, for the operation of the school, to be effective from the opening date. The annual revenue budget for the new Academy will replicate the Council’s formula for funding schools, subject to protection and additional payments in accordance with the budget policy for academies operated by the Education Funding Agency.

39. The expected build costs for the construction of a new 210-place primary school and accompanying infrastructure is expected to be circa £4 million. This cost is incorporated into the 2015/16 Medium Term Financial Strategy agreed by the Council on 18th February 2015.

40. In terms of revenue grant implications, local authorities receive funding only for the pupils on roll as recorded in the October school census immediately preceding the financial year. There is no Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) for any growth in pupil numbers in year, or currently any mechanism to apply to the Education Funding Agency for growth funding.

41. The School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2014 requires local authorities to provide a budget for opening schools based upon

estimated pupil numbers from the point of opening and in the following years as new year groups are added, the funding for which is from existing resources.

42. The DfE also requires that the local authority funds the revenue start-up costs for any new school, which are based on per pupil funding from the point of opening and any post-opening funding required to address diseconomies of scale until a school reaches capacity. Allocation of ‘growth’ funding must be supported by a policy clearly setting out the funding available and be approved by the Schools Forum. A policy will be developed over the coming months that will provide for only essential pre-opening costs.

43. It is estimated that the cost of commissioning a new 210-place primary school is in the region of £0.5m. Funding of £3.7m is set aside within the DSG reserve for commissioning new schools. Whilst this will be sufficient to meet the costs of the new school it is insufficient to meet the longer term commissioning costs for new schools expected from significant housing development, for example the Sustainable Urban Extensions (SUE’s). A number of options need to be considered to establish a growth fund on a sustainable basis as there is no capacity to fund this from the Schools Block element of the DSG settlement. To establish an ongoing growth fund may require funding adjustments in the school funding formula to establish an appropriate budget aligned to the County Council’s capital programme.

Development of the New School

44. Consultation events on the designs for the new school were held at the Winstanley Community College and Stafford Leys Community Primary School, during the week commencing 20th April, and were very favourably received by those parents and pupils and members of the public attending the events.

45. The plans for the new school received approval on 15th May 2015 and construction work is expected to commence on site in September. This will allow the selected academy sponsor to have some input to the later stages of the development. A copy of the designs for the new school may be accessed via the following link; http://ow.ly/NRWR5

Conclusions and Next Steps

46. Good progress has been made over the last few months to develop the new school in readiness for September 2016 opening, and to find a suitable academy sponsor. It is most encouraging that the expressions of interest received have all come from DfE approved sponsors, were all of a high quality, and had good connections to Leicestershire schools. This will clearly be of assistance to enabling a successful start for the school and the development of strong local partnerships/collaboration.

47. Subject to approval by the Cabinet, further work will be now undertaken to seek the Secretary of State’s decision on a preferred sponsor. The DfE guidance makes provision for the Council, if considered appropriate, to recommend a preferred proposer, but given that the conclusions in paragraph 46 above it is not intended to do this. The Secretary of State will take the

Council’s evaluation into account, along with any additional factors of which the DfE might be aware.

48. It should be noted that Secretary of State reserves the right to agree a sponsor of her own choice (from the department’s list of approved sponsors) on the basis that the DfE may have further evidence about a proposer, or proposers, which mean that none of those put forward is suitable. The intention here is to ensure that the new school is established by the best proposer possible. Given the strength of the applications received there is no reason to suggest that the Secretary of State would seek to exercise this power and look elsewhere to secure an academy sponsor, and this message will be made clear when submitting the Council’s request for a decision.

Relevant Impact Assessments

49. Equality and Human Rights Implications

An assessment has been undertaken to assess the appropriateness of academy sponsors to run the new primary school in relation to Equality and Human Rights Implications, and which shows no adverse findings for further action. This helps ensure that the underlying purpose of the proposals to improve standards for all children and young people, and offer greater choice and diversity of educational provision will be met.

50. Risk Assessment

The risks to the Council arising from the establishment of the new school and the appointment of an academy sponsor will be kept under regular review by the Children and Family Services Department, Education Sufficiency team, and when required will be reported to the Corporate Schools Group which maintains oversight of all school place planning matters.

Background Papers

Report to the Cabinet 17 June 2014 – Proposals to develop a new primary school for the Braunstone Town and LFE area http://politics.leics.gov.uk/Published/C00000135/M00003991/AI00038425/$6primaryschoolbraunstonearea.docA.ps.pdf

Report to the Cabinet 11 December 2014 – Results of consultation on proposals to develop a new primary school for the Braunstone Town and LFE area http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/education/information_about_schools/school_organisation_place_planning/new_schools/braunstone.htm

Report to the Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee 3 November 2014 - Admissions and Appeals arrangements in Leicestershire (paragraphs 47 to 56 refer to school place planning strategy) http://politics.leics.gov.uk/Published/C00001043/M00003909/AI00039824/$1ManagementofSchoolAdmissionsandAppealsinLeicestershire.docA.ps.pdf

The Academy/Free school presumption – Department for Education advice for local authorities and new school proposers - October 2014 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/364083/Academy_and_free_school_presumption_departmental_advice_Final.pdf

In The Right Place - Strategy for the Provision of School and Other Learning Places in Leicestershire 2014/18 http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/education/information_about_schools/school_organisation_place_planning/strategy.htm