Decision details

The four week representation period for the statutory notice published by the Governing Body of St Gregory’s Catholic College on the 21 July 2011 proposing the expansion of the age range at the school to add a sixth form ended on 17 August 2011 and a decision is required to determine the notice

(1) To AGREE that the age range at St Gregory’s Catholic College should be expanded to add a sixth form on 1 September 2013, subject to the following conditions being met by the dates specified:

(a) Detailed Planning Permission being granted for the additional school accommodation by 31 June 2012. (The Governing Body has been granted Outline Planning Permission for the additional building that will be required as a result of the proposal);

(b) The acquisition of the site required for the implementation of the proposals by 31 December 2011.

i)The proposal will contribute to the Council’s strategy for secondary provision and as agreed by the Cabinet in July 2010;

ii) The proposal has the support of pupils at St. Gregory’s, parents of pupils at the school, parents of pupils at St Mark’s and parents of primary age pupils who have expressed their desire for a sixth form at St Gregory’s via the consultation process and the representation period. The nine comments on the proposal received during the representation period as outlined in Appendix 1 were all in support of the proposal. There were no objections to the proposal. All representations received during the representation period have been taken into consideration as a part of the overall decision making process;

iii) The proposal will add to diversity of provision by the addition of Christian faith based post-16 places in the Local Authority and in Bath;

iv) There is a strong case for approval on parental preference and standards grounds and evidence suggests that there is sufficient demand for Christian sixth form places at the expanded school for the additional provision to be sustainable;

v) There is strong evidence to suggest that the provision will be of high quality and will have a positive impact on standards and school improvement in the Authority;

vi) The ‘condition to be met’ dates set out in the recommendations are believed to be achievable, however they can be varied at the request of the proposer (the school) if it looks as if the condition will not be met by that date. If a condition cannot be met the proposal will go back to the Decision Maker (the Cabinet) for fresh consideration.

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