A Review of Primary Schools in the Keynsham Area

Castle Primary School, Chandag Infant School, Chandag Junior School, Keynsham Primary School, Saltford CofE Primary School, St John's CofE Primary Keynsham, Temple Primary School

INTRODUCTION

The first stage of the Review has involved the gathering of information on the following:-

• current numbers on roll (September 2003)
• historical numbers on roll (1997-2002)
• anticipated numbers on roll (2004 and beyond)
• levels of recruitment against Standard Number
• unit cost per pupil
• pupil teacher ratios
• home addresses of pupils on roll
• outstanding planned maintenance
• suitability for curriculum delivery
• level of surplus or deficit of places
• levels of educational achievement

levels of educational deprivation and multiple deprivation in the ward in which the school is located (and more detailed information on the level of educational and economic deprivation amongst children at each school).

On 29 September, a draft version of this document was circulated to the Headteacher and Chair of Governors of each school covered by the Review, the Headteacher and Chair of Governors of the two secondary schools serving Keynsham, senior officers of the Education Service, the Bath & Wells Diocesan Board of Education, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton, Councillors representing wards in Keynsham and Saltford and Keynsham Town Council. The document was also circulated to members of the Education, Youth, Culture & Leisure Overview & Scrutiny Panel in order to prepare the Panel members for their discussion at a meeting on 3 November.

A revised version containing amendments and clarifications of facts was issued to all stakeholders on October 17th.

This paper was published on November 10th. This document is a duplicate of the revised paper issued on October 17th with the crucial addition of initial conclusions drawn by officers. These conclusions and any responses will be discussed by the Council Executive at its meeting on 3rd December. The Executive will then determine what action, if any, should be taken.

School Organisation Plan

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

• Infant and junior Schools should be at least one form of entry and a maximum of three with a standard number between 30 and 90.
• No infant school should have 60 or fewer children on roll.
• No junior school should have 90 or fewer children on roll.
• Urban/suburban primary schools should be at least one form of entry and a maximum of two with a standard number between 30 and 60.
• No urban/suburban primary school should have fewer than 180 children on roll.
• The maximum desirable size for an all through primary school is 420 pupils.

Both infant and junior schools meet the minimum size and admission number criteria. All the primary schools have acceptable admission numbers. At September 2003 two of the primary schools covered by the Review have fewer than 180 children on roll.

The School Organisation Plan agreed on July 22 2003 stated the following in relation to Keynsham “At the time of publication of the original draft Plan significant housing developments were planned for Keynsham. As this Plan reaches final draft stage and approval the planned large-scale housing development for Keynsham has been deleted from the Local Plan. Therefore, there is no prospect of unfilled places in the town being taken up by residents of new housing.” The housing developments that are still identified for the town will add 74 dwellings at Somerdale and at the former Cannocks garage plus an unspecified element of residential development at St John’s Court.

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.” Of the schools covered by this Review there is one infant school and one junior school. One primary school also operates an LEA nursery class.

Readers will note that two of the seven schools covered by this Review are Church of England schools (both are Voluntary Controlled). Any changes in the area may result in a change in the proportion of denominational places in Bath & North East Somerset. At present, 47% of primary school places in Bath & North East Somerset are in Church of England schools. In Keynsham this percentage is 33%.

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.

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 any need for additional accommodation and for improvements to, or removal of, existing accommodation.

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

All data is based on assessments undertaken during the Autumn Term 2002-2003

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.

 Summary and Conclusions

Aims and Objectives

The aims of the Review are to:

· Improve educational standards

· Maximise the use of existing resources (land, buildings, funding and people)

· Increase access to high quality facilities for children, staff and the community

· Make the choice of a local school the natural and easy choice for parents

1575 children attend the seven schools covered by this Review. 38 of these pupils are part-time nursery pupils. The full-time equivalent is therefore 1559.

Of these 1575 children over 95% live within Keynsham or Saltford. A map showing the locations of pupils is attached. A small number of pupils come from Bath and from surrounding villages. There is some cross-border movement but this is not materially significant in this context.

It is reasonable to conclude that the population trends in Keynsham and Saltford will be the key determining factor when looking at future education needs.

Population Trends

The birth rate in the wards of Keynsham East, North and South and Saltford show a sharp fall. Data obtained from the Primary Care Trust (PCT) and valid at April 2003 shows the following:

Ages at April 2003	Year of Entry	Numbers of Children
Aged 4	2003	198
Aged 3	2004	170
Aged 2	2005	191
Aged 1	2006	165
Under 1	2007	126

A breakdown of these figures shows that Saltford is experiencing the most dramatic fall in numbers. At April 2003 there were 16 children aged under 1 within the ward. This should be compared with the 42 four year olds in the ward at the same date and shows a fall of over 60%.

Making an allowance of 5% for pupils outside these wards, a further allowance of 5% for the maximum desirable flexibility within schools, and including an allowance for the building of perhaps 100 new houses in Keynsham between now and the end of the decade leads to a figure of 144 children per year requiring a school place.

The organisational impact of the decline in pupil numbers

A form of entry is 30 so we could proceed on the basis of 5 forms of entry (5 x 30 =150) in the area. At present we offer 240 places for new entrants to school per year or the equivalent of eight forms of entry. There are seven primary year groups and thus by the early part of the next decade, we could have 1050 (7 x 150 =1050) school places. We currently have 1673 places and therefore 623 school places could be removed.

Removal of such a large number of places cannot be achieved by simply removing unnecessary temporary buildings, `mothballing' buildings or through an attempt to manage declining pupil numbers at all the existing schools.

In order to ensure a closer match between numbers and places, three forms of entry could be removed through the closure and resizing of schools. However, this scenario only applies if the PCT data is absolutely robust and demographic trends are not reversed.

It is prudent to proceed with caution whilst recognising that:

· there are unfilled places which are surplus to current and future requirements.

· There is a wide variation in the quality of the facilities available to children.

· there is a wide gap between levels of attainment.

· there is a wide gap in levels of funding per pupil.

Debating and resolving these issues should form the basis for further consultation.

It is necessary to develop some options in order to provide a focus for future discussions. The following statements summarise the views of the Council regarding each school.

Castle Primary School has a relatively stable intake, generally fills over 80% of its places each year, presents no fundamental condition or suitability problems and is located on a site which, whilst undersized, is generally acceptable in terms of the ability of the school to deliver the whole curriculum. By 2007 as numbers decline the capacity of Castle Primary could be reduced to 210 from its current level of 240. This removes 30 places and may provide the opportunity to address certain suitability issues. The school recruits from the immediate surrounding area and this is advantageous in terms of community cohesion. Expansion of the school to accept pupils from closed schools could be considered. This would require capital expenditure. There is no clear reason to consider making any changes at this school as part of the Review.

Chandag Infant School and Chandag Junior School share a site albeit in separate buildings. Both schools draw from a wide area of Keynsham and Saltford. At present, the combined number on roll of the schools is in excess of the maximum desirable size for an all-through primary school. As the decline in pupil numbers begins to have its effect this could create an opportunity to amalgamate these schools. If this is considered a desirable course of action then it would be sensible for the LEA to take action to facilitate this by amending the Planned Admission Number for Chandag Junior from 1 September 2005. This would allow amalgamation to take place on 1 September 2008. Amalgamation would minimise management costs and release resources for direct delivery. There is no reason to believe that there would be a negative effect on standards through implementation of this proposal. The potential for creating this new primary school in a new building on the Chandag Infant site merits further investigation as the location of the existing schools adjacent to Wellsway School offers some opportunities for `joined-up' provision and the creation of an extended school.

Keynsham Primary School has experienced a dramatic fall in pupil numbers. Numbers at September 2003 are just 44% of those at September 1997. The school is located on a site large enough to accommodate a school twice the planned size. The costs per head are well above the average for the area and for the Authority as a whole. Children come almost entirely from the area surrounding the school. In the interests of ensuring that resources are used as effectively as possible it is sensible to maintain and extend the use of this site. An additional factor supporting this is that a new Neighbourhood Nursery is to be built on land immediately adjacent to the existing school. The level of unfilled places at the school will rise if present trends and admission patterns continue and this is unsustainable.

St John's CE Primary School is located on an adequate site in buildings which are slightly larger than is desirable but this does not present a significant drain on resources. Expansion of the school to accept pupils from closed schools would not be possible on the existing site. Unit costs and levels of achievement are considered to be satisfactory or better. The suitability problems at the school can be resolved through the normal process of assessment for inclusion in the Capital Programme. The planned decline in admission levels, following the implementation of a new planned admission number in September 2004, is sustainable in the medium and longer term. The school draws almost entirely from its immediate surroundings and there is no evidence to suggest that its status as a Voluntary Controlled school brings children from a wider area. There appears to be no reason to propose any change at this school as part of this Review.

Saltford CE Primary School is located on a very large site. This represents a drain on resources and the site should be reduced in size. The buildings are a little oversized but not to such an extent as to cause unmanageable problems. The school presents no significant suitability problems. The decline in the birth rate in Saltford needs to be monitored carefully and a planned reduction in capacity should be considered over the medium term in order to ensure that the school continues to serve the local community. Such a planned reduction could be achieved by the progressive removal of temporary buildings. There are no other reasons to propose change at this school as part of this Review.

Temple Primary School is located on two sites separated by a main road. The school is not located in a densely populated residential area and thus it draws pupils from many parts of Keynsham. Neither site is suitable and, taken together, the school site is grossly undersized. There is no school playing field and there are a number of other suitability problems which are difficult to resolve on the existing site and in the existing buildings. Consideration could be given to relocating this school as part of an amalgamation and/or school renewal scheme. This would require significant capital expenditure.

RECOMMENDED ACTION

Prepare detailed forecasts of pupil numbers for this area following detailed discussions with the PCT.

Examine the location of existing pupils and pre-school children in order to predict more accurately the likely areas of need.

Consider whether an option can be developed which adheres to the following principles:

a) Acceptance by all stakeholders that school closures are both possible and necessary.

b) Acceptance by all stakeholders that some unfilled capacity will remain untouched in the medium to long term and that further action may be required in the medium to long term if the projected decline in numbers becomes reality.

c) A recognition by all stakeholders that some existing sites and buildings are fundamentally unsuited to modern day school provision.

d) A clear understanding that the Review may allow us the chance to improve facilities and opportunities for all providing that sources of capital funding can be identified.

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