Meeting documents

BATH & NORTH EAST SOMERSET COUNCIL

A REVIEW OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN THE BATHAVON AREA

1. WHY ARE WE REVIEWING THIS AREA?

1.1 All primary schools in Bath & North East Somerset are to be reviewed over the four years between September 2003 and July 2007. Each school will initially be reviewed alongside its partner schools in a geographical area. At the end of each Area Review elected Councillors may decide that some changes (school closures, new schools, enlarging schools etc.) appear to be necessary and initiate a further consultation process focussing on the school(s) affected. It is equally possible that Councillors may simply acknowledge that the pattern of school provision is working effectively and that no changes are required in the short or medium-term.

1.2 The process to be followed when undertaking an Area Review has been the subject of wide and lengthy consultation. It was finally approved by the School Organisation Committee (a body independent of the Council) on 22 July 2003.

1.3 A document describing the process can be found on the Council website at: www.bathnes.gov.uk/committee_papers/OandSEYCL/EYCL021202/10SchoolReviewProcess.htm .Paper copies are available on request.

1.4 The schools named below are considered in this Review.

Bathampton Primary School

Batheaston CofE Primary School

Bathford CofE Primary School

2. INTRODUCTION

2.2 On 26 April 2005, a draft version of this document was circulated to the Headteacher of each school covered by the Review.

2.3 On 9^th May 2005 a revised version containing amendments, clarifications of facts and some initial conclusions was issued to the Headteacher and Chair of Governors of each school covered by the Review, the Headteacher and Chair of Governors of the secondary schools serving Bath, senior officers of the Education Service, the Bath & Wells Diocesan Board of Education, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton and Councillors representing the wards in which the schools are located. The document was also circulated to members of the Education, Youth, Culture & Leisure Overview & Scrutiny Panel in order to inform their discussions prior to the public meeting to be held on 23 May 2005.

3. School Organisation Plan

3.1 Each school has been assessed against policies, established through the School Organisation Plan, regarding school size. The School Organisation Plan states that;

3.2 At September 2004 all schools meet the criteria regarding planned admission number and size.

3.3 Information provided to the SOP in July 2004 indicated the area had a relatively high level of unfilled places with most of these being at one school. A planned housing development has received outline planning permission. The possibility of this development means that it may be necessary to provide additional capacity during the lifetime of the Plan. In view of this it is proposed that this area be reviewed in the next round of reviews.

3.4 The School Organisation Plan agreed on 17 July 2001 stated that "the LEA's preferred option for school organisation at Key Stages 1 and 2 is all-through primary schools. This also includes the Foundation Stage in nursery and reception classes." All three schools covered by this Review are all-through primary schools. No school operates a nursery class.

3.5 Of the three schools covered by this Review two are Church schools. Any changes in the area may result in a change in the proportion of denominational places in Bath & North East Somerset and if such changes reduced the proportion of denominational places this would require the support of the relevant Diocese. At present, approximately 54% of primary school places in Bath & North East Somerset are in Church schools. In the Bathavon area the percentage is 75%.

3.6 All schools have also been assessed under the Authority's Asset Management Plan (AMP). The AMP is concerned with the Condition, Suitability and Sufficiency of schools. The Key Data sheets at the back of the document show the position at these schools in relation to the AMP headings.

4. The Context

4.1 A map showing the location of the schools is attached. A wide area map showing where pupils live is also attached. For legal reasons it is necessary to state that the maps have been reproduced from the Ordnance Survey with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office © Crown Copyright under License Number 100023334.

4.2 Population data from the Primary Care Trust shows the position at March 2004 in the wards in which these schools are located.

5 Levels of Educational Achievement

5.1 There are various measures of educational performance. Simple examination of headline results may not reveal the success (or otherwise) of a school.

5.2 Care must be taken when analysing results of small year groups and making comparisons with schools that are significantly different in size. In small schools one pupil can have a very marked effect on the percentage figures. OFSTED makes the following statement:

6. Timescales and Consultation

6.2 A meeting is to be arranged for Bath & North East Somerset Councillors representing the relevant wards.

6.3 The document will be further considered by the Overview & Scrutiny Panel (OSP) at its meeting on 16^th June 2005.

6.4 The final paper will be considered by the Council Executive which meets at the Guildhall, Bath on 29 June 2005.

KEY DATA

Numbers on Roll, Forecasts & Surplus Places (Sufficiency 1)

Level of Recruitment against Standard Number

Financial Information

Outstanding Planned Maintenance (Condition)

Site and Building Areas (Sufficiency 2)

Educational Standards

Suitability

Numbers on Roll, Forecasts & Surplus Places

Notes

PAN means Planned Admission Number. This figure equates to the number of pupils the school must admit if demand exists. PAN replaced Standard Number for admissions from September 2004.

Net Capacity is the physical capacity of the school and shows the number of places available. It is derived from a DfES formula.

Surplus places mean unfilled places. Not all unfilled places are surplus. The calculation of surplus places takes account only of those schools where the number of pupils is fewer than the number of places available. Shortfalls of places in schools are not counted.

The purpose of showing the average number on roll over the five years previous to 2004/05 is to ensure that an unusual variation in admissions in one year does not provide a distorted picture.

Forecast numbers for individual schools are not included. It can be seen that the total number on roll at September 2004 is 110% of that at September 1999. Forecasts indicate that by September 2007 the total number on roll will be 92% of the 1999 figure.

An increase in surplus places is predicted but the Bailbrook housing development needs to be borne in mind.

Population Data - Bathavon

Source : B&NES Primary Care Trust

Data valid as at March 2004

Numbers of children in this area show some periodic fluctuation but overall there is little indication that the number of unfilled spaces will increase or decrease significantly.

Levels of Recruitment against Standard Number / Planned Admission Number

Notes

Levels of recruitment are shown as percentages as changes to Standard Number were implemented at several schools

over the period September 1997 to September 2002. This was often as a result of the infant class size legislation.

Standard Number (SN) was abolished from September 2004 and replaced by Planned Admission Number (PAN)

Financial Information

Outstanding Planned Maintenance

Notes

The figures showing the total costs of outstanding planned maintenance show only those works which are regarded as Urgent or Essential.

DfES and Property Services define Urgent as `Work that will prevent immediate closure of premises, and/or address an immediate high risk to the health and safety of occupants and/or remedy a serious breach of legislation'

Essential is defined as `Work required within two years that will prevent serious deterioration of the fabric or services and/or address a medium risk to the health and safety of occupants and/or remedy a less serious breach of legislation'

Notes

An assessment of these areas forms part of the Sufficiency element of the Asset Management Plan.

Building Bulletin 99 (BB99) `Area Guidelines for Schools' is a DfES guidance document which indicates total site and building areas required. Figures take account of the size of school and the age range covered.

A site or building which is too small will make management of the school more problematic. A site or building that is oversized will require more resources in order to maintain it which will come from the school budget and thus leave less to allocate to direct delivery of the curriculum.

Educational Standards 2004

Data provided by Bath & North East Somerset Performance Data Unit

Pupil Locations September 2004 - Wide Area View

Reproduced from Ordnance Survey mapping with the permission of Her Majesty's Stationery Office Crown Copyright License No 100023334

SUITABILITY ASSESSMENTS

In conjunction with sufficiency and condition assessments, suitability assessments help in the targeting of resources where they can have the greatest effect in raising standards and maximising value for money. The assessments help in identifying the educational impact of any deficiencies in accommodation, may identify a need for additional accommodation or improvements to existing accommodation.

The definitions below will assist readers in assessing the scale of the suitability problems faced by the schools within this Review.

Readers are reminded that the issues identified by the Suitability Assessments represent both the findings of work undertaken during the Autumn Term 2002-03 and updated to reflect accommodation changes since then. The latest update was December 2004.

Each school received a copy of their Assessment and Headteachers were invited to comment on the findings. The issues identified below represent the agreed suitability issues facing the school at the time of the Assessment.

Category A - Unable to teach curriculum.

This is most likely to be associated with numbers and types of teaching spaces available. There should be enough appropriate spaces to accommodate all pupils for the whole of the curriculum

Category B - Teaching methods inhibited. Unsuitability of spaces may mean that schools' preferred teaching methods are inhibited. This may be associated with numbers and types of teaching spaces, or with the size and other aspects of spaces

Category C - Management or organisation of school affected adversely.

Unsuitability of spaces and/or the way they relate to each other may affect the organisation or management of the school

Category D - Pupil or staff morale or pupil behaviour affected adversely.

Unsuitability of spaces may affect pupil or staff morale or pupil behaviour.

The Schools Asset Manager has stated that known suitability issues at the three schools covered by this Review are as follows:

Bathampton Primary School

The school comprises an accessible two storey 1890's building. There are sufficient teaching spaces for the number on roll but all are generally undersized: classrooms, hall, IT room, SEN area. The admin accommodation has no known suitability issues.

Batheaston CofE Primary School

The school comprises four separate blocks housing the main school building, a Horsa hall/dining, double Elliot temporary classroom and music/small group spaces on a very constricted site. The school has asked that we also note that the hall is inaccessible and has multiple use for assembly/PE/dining, is used for out of school activities and a recent Ofsted inspection considered it difficult to deliver the curriculum in this space. The hall has no fixed PE equipment and health and safety issues associated with slippery floors and poor acoustics. Small group spaces and library are all situated on circulation routes. The IT space suffers from temperature variations. School administrative areas are undersized and the staffroom is both inaccessible and undersized. There are insufficient staff toilets.

Bathford CofE Primary School

The school comprises a single storey main building with two inaccessible poor condition Elliot temporary buildings at the rear. The hall has multiple use for assembly/PE/dining and is so undersized the full curriculum cannot be delivered. It is also unable to cater for Breakfast or After School Clubs to cater for recognised needs in the village. The library is situated in one of the Elliot buildings and there is no SEN space nor other small group spaces. The school has asked that we also note the undersized staffroom and inadequate staff toilet provision

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Aims and Objectives

The aims of the Review are to:

Bathampton Primary School is slightly over capacity but not to such an extent to cause concern. Pupils achieve very high standards and attainment is well above both the LEA and national average across both Key Stages. There is sufficient accommodation for this school although some teaching areas are undersized. However these cannot be resolved without major remodelling and this school would not be a priority for investment under present Asset Management Plan priorities. The school site is more than sufficient and there is more than double the required playing field area. Consideration could be given to reducing the site area of the school to no more than that required for a 210 place primary school, ie a school of twice the present size.

No action is required in relation to this school.

Batheaston CofE Primary School is almost full. Educational outcomes are above the LEA and national average across both Key Stages. There are a significant number of suitability issues .Some of the staff and administration deficiencies are to be resolved by the school itself using devolved formula capital. The deteriorating condition of the Horsa dining/hall and double Elliot classrooms coupled with the large amount of outstanding repairs and maintenance for the school is of concern. However these issues cannot be resolved without major capital investment. The school is situated on a constrained site and there would be little flexibility to alleviate these problems. There is no on site playing field although the school has access to an undersized field across the road.

No action is recommended at this school.

Bathford CofE Primary School presently has a large number of unfilled spaces. However proposed housing developments both in Bathford and Bailbrook Lane will generate need for pupil places which it is anticipated to reduce the surplus. The planned reduction of PAN from 25 to 22 for September 2005 will also reduce net capacity to 154. Educational outcomes are above the LEA and national average across both Key Stages. There are a significant number of suitability issues associated with the school, particularly the absence of a hall. The deteriorating condition of the two Elliot buildings coupled with the large amount of outstanding repairs and maintenance for the school is of concern. The school site is more than sufficient and there is more than double the required playing field area.

It is recommended the unfilled places be monitored and all options to alleviate are considered and that consideration could be given to reducing the site area of the school to no more than that required for a 210 place primary school.