Section 10 Consultation Report Bishop Chavasse Primary School Tonbridge Kent Prepared by Christine Bayliss For Tenax Schools Trust BACKGROUND The Tenax Schools Trust is a multi-academy trust led by the Ofsted-rated ‘outstanding’ Bennett Memorial Diocesan School in Tunbridge Wells. The Trust submitted a bid to the Department for Education in 2015 for a new primary school in Tonbridge. The rationale for the bid was threefold: to enable Tonbridge parents to have the choice of a Church of England Primary School as one does not currently exist in the Town; to cater for the rapid population growth and lack of sufficient places for reception aged children; and the need for more good and outstanding primary schools in the area. The bid promised a traditional primary education for 60 pupils in each year group underpinned by a Christian ethos. In terms of admissions, up to 25% of places (up to 15 places annually) will be allocated on the basis on parental attendance at a Church of England Church. The project is supported by Kent County Council as a key element of their strategy to meet demand for much needed primary places in Tonbridge. The bid by Tenax Schools Trust was approved by the Department for Education in spring 2015 and moved into the pre-opening stage immediately thereafter. The pre-opening stage involves securing the site, applying for planning permission to be followed by construction of the permanent building and, in this case, temporary facilities for the first year of operation. It also involves setting up and running an application process for prospective parents and recruiting the head teacher and key staff. The Education Funding Agency have secured land in Tudeley Lane adjacent to the new housing development at Somerhill Green which, subject to planning consent, will be the permanent site for the school. Planning consultants Cushman and Wakefield have recently undertaken a pre-planning application consultation with the neighbouring population. A planning application for full planning permission for temporary buildings and outline permission for the permanent building was submitted to Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council on 19 December. The school is due to open in September 2017 subject to the Secretary of State entering into a funding agreement with the Trust. Before doing this, she will want to be confident that the school will be good or better at its first Ofsted inspection, will be popular and financially viable. As part of that process the law requires Tenax Schools Trust to consult with the local community and other interested parties on their plans for the school. This consultation process is under the Section 10 Consultation (Section 10 of the 2010 Academies Act). CONSULTATION DESIGN and METHODOLOGY The Trust agreed that there should be five questions for consultation with prospective parents, relevant organisations and the wider community. The questions asked for views on the need for a new school, its location, admissions, curriculum and ethos, as well as agreement that the Secretary of State should enter into a funding agreement with the Trust to open and run the proposed school. 1. Do you believe there is a need for a new Church of England primary school serving children aged 4 – 11 in South Tonbridge? 2. Would you support the new school being built on the vacant plot of land on Tudeley Lane, Tonbridge, adjacent to the Somerhill Green Housing Development? 3. Do you support the proposed Admissions Policy for the Bishop Chavasse Primary School and that specifically up to 25% of places (up to 15 annually) will be allocated on the basis of parental attendance at a Church of England church? 4. Do you support the vision & ethos and curriculum offer of the Bishop Chavasse Primary School? 5. Do you agree the Secretary of State for Education should enter into a Funding Agreement with the Tenax Schools Trust to open and run the Bishop Chavasse Primary School. Information on the consultation was disseminated via a dedicated web page on the school website, a four page A5 consultation document (see ANNEX D) and an A5 double sided flyer. There were 161 web site hits during the consultation. Printed materials advertised a public meeting held on 12 December 2016 at the Angel Centre in Tonbridge along with summary information about the consultation. Around 500 of these leaflets were delivered door-to-door on the new Somerhill Green housing development and a neighbouring estate off Tudeley Lane. Formal consultation letters were sent from Ian Bauckham, CEO Tenax Schools Trust, to the Director of Children’s Services at Kent County Council and the Chief Executive of Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council. Emails were also sent to the 135 residents who had signed up to support the bid. Stakeholder consultation emails were sent to local councillors, schools, nurseries and churches directing them to complete the online questionnaire. See list at Annex A. A dedicated telephone line was set up for enquiries and respondents were able to submit a hard copy of their responses as well as the online provision. All of this was underpinned by extensive promotion to news outlets and via social media. An example of social media promotion included harnessing the support of the local MP, Tom Tugendhart, through his twitter account to promote the public meeting (illustrated in the photo opposite), news coverage in the local free paper the Tonbridge Times and further coverage in the Kent Courier. A dedicated Facebook account for the school was set up which also carried information and links to the web site. The consultation ran from 1 December 2016 through to 11 January 2017. A total of 171 responses were received, 105 electronically and 66 were made by completing hard copy questionnaires. As well as the public meeting held on 12 December 2016 (see photo illustration below), the consultation team visited and engaged with stakeholders at: • STEPS pre school based at St Stephen’s Church • Little Stars toddler group based at Tonbridge Baptist Church • Tonbridge Child Minders Association. • ‘Who lets the Dads Out’ – Christmas Party at St Stephens Church • Refresh session at St Stephen’s Church • Afternoon session at Sainsbury’s supermarket in central Tonbridge. • SUMMARY OF RESPONSES TO CONSULTATION A total of 171 consultation responses were received. The majority of respondents were ‘parents’ (98) followed by ‘individuals’ (64), ‘organisations’ (3) - and six ‘other’ respondents, including two blank responses. Respondant Types A parent An Individual Organisation Other 2% 4% 37% 57% The overwhelming majority of respondents’ feedback was positive. The following section looks at the responses to each question in detail. 1. Do you believe there is a need for a new Church of England primary school serving children aged 4 – 11 in South Tonbridge? Yes 148 86% No 10 6% Not Sure 13 8% The responses to question 1 on whether there is a need for a new Church of England Primary School were overwhelmingly in favour. Responses from parents were overall more positive about the need for a new Church of England Primary School with 90% answering ‘Yes’ and only 4% saying ‘No’. Comments from respondents included some from people who are concerned about the choice for local parents, referencing the fact that the school serving the area is undersubscribed and judged ‘Inadequate’ by Ofsted. “Actually, although I agree there needs to be a new primary I am not sure why there needs to be a new CofE one when the current one in the area is undersubscribed and not meeting Ofsted requirements”.1 However, the majority were very positive with comments such as “As a committed Christian, give that there are no CofE schools at present, this would be very welcome” and “Especially in the TN9 area, new housing and an influx of new young families have put great pressure on our existing schools”. 2. Would you support the new school being built on the vacant plot of land on Tudeley Lane, Tonbridge, adjacent to the Somerhill Green Housing Development? Yes 145 85% No 14 8% Not Sure 12 7% The overwhelming majority of respondents support the new school being built on land on Tudeley Lane adjacent to the Somerhill Green housing development. Supportive comments include “An ideal location within walking distance of many family homes” and “There is high demand for school places. Seems a sensible place to build”. Additional comments from respondents are set out in full in Annex B. 15% of respondents were either ‘Not Sure’ or answered ‘No’ to the question of whether the school should be built on Tudeley Lane. While many respondents thought that the proposed site was an ideal location, a small number took the opportunity to raise concerns about traffic and potential road safety issues. The main concern expressed was around parents dropping off and picking up children, congestion and parking on the new housing development. This issue was also raised by a small number of residents who attended the public consultation meeting. For example, a local residents asked “Although there will be a drop-off zone, it is unlikely that parents will drop young children off and leave them. We will be very concerned if people start parking along local roads; there might be inadvertent damage to property. How will the drop-off zone be managed?” The Trust representative replied “We will be staggering events such as parents evenings and start and end times of pre school and after school activities. These will have a positive impact on managing traffic and access to the school. We will likely have a managed station with a minimum of two staff who would be visible and would escort children to the school entrance”. A full record of the public meeting and the questions and answers are set out in Annex C 1 St Stephen’s Primary school is a community school and NOT a Church of England school, despite the name.