Agenda item

Councillor Anthony Clarke made an ad hoc statement in which he urged the Cabinet to support the proposals.

Raymond Friel (Head Teacher, St Gregory’s Catholic College) made an ad hoc statement thanking the Cabinet for their support and urging them to adopt the proposals.  He reminded the Cabinet that in an earlier consultation in March, there had been 100 responses in addition to those made in August.

Councillor Nathan Hartley, in proposing the item, thanked Raymond Friel and Councillor Clarke.  He pointed out that the Council had supported the confederation of St Mark’s and St Gregory’s, and that the Cabinet’s policy was to support both coeducational schooling and the provision of faith based education in the area.  Despite the concerns over numbers, he was convinced that young people must be offered the choice to go on to sixth form without having to go outside the area.

Councillor Tim Ball seconded the proposal and said that it would be a very important step for local children.  The Council had a duty to provide alternatives to the long journeys for young people making their sixth form choices.

Councillor David Bellotti offered his warm support.  He believed that some young people had been missing out on sixth form because of the transport problems.  He advised the school to contact the Divisional Director (Tourism, Leisure & Culture) who might be able to agree to the use of playing fields.

Rationale

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.

Other Options Considered

None.

On a motion from Councillor Nathan Hartley, seconded by Councillor Tim Ball, it was

RESOLVED (unanimously)

(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.