The Possible Closure of St Swithins C of E, VC Infant
School
A Consultation Paper
BACKGROUND
All primary schools in Bath & North East
Somerset are being reviewed on an area basis between September 2003
and July 2007.
The Council Executive has agreed that the aims
of these reviews are:
· To
maintain and improve educational standards
· To
maximise the use of existing resources (land, buildings and
funding)
· To
increase access to high quality facilities for children, staff
and the community
· To make
the choice of a local school the natural and easy choice for
parents
Each of these statements has some weight. In
particular areas and at particular schools the importance of each
statement will differ.
WHY ARE WE PUBLISHING THIS
PAPER?
On 7 April 2004 the Council Executive decided
that it wished to consult people about the possible closure of St
Swithin’s CE VC Infant School. This decision was reached after a
review of St Swithin’s and ten other schools in north and central
Bath. The Area Review involved the Headteachers and Chairs of
Governors at all these schools, Councillors who form the Overview
& Scrutiny Panel and various Officers from the Education
Service.
WHAT ARE WE ASKING?
We are simply asking whether you believe that
the school should close. Later in this document we will put forward
some of the reasons why the school is being considered for closure.
We ask that you read the document, attend (if you can) the public
meeting that is being held (see page 4 for details of date, time
and place), listen to the arguments for and against closure and
contribute if you wish to that discussion.
We ask that you then send us comments. You can
use the form at the back of this paper or write to us by letter or
e-mail.
WHY IS THE SCHOOL BEING CONSIDERED FOR CLOSURE?
There are several reasons why the Council
Executive decided to consult people about the closure of St
Swithin’s.
The school is the smallest school in Bath
& North East Somerset. At January 2004 there were 9 full-time
pupils on roll and a further ten children attending on a part-time
basis. The school has almost 90% of its places empty. The numbers
of children really matter as some costs at schools are fairly fixed
(salaries, maintenance costs, other running costs) and the fewer
pupils there are the greater the cost per head. We believe that it
is unfair and an inefficient use of resources for one group of
children to benefit from additional resources at the expense of
another purely on the basis of the size of the school they attend.
In addition, the school is not particularly
suitable for modern education and it is missing certain important
facilities such as a computer room and a separate library . Other
areas are also unsuitable. For example, there are no grassed areas
for the children to use either for learning or play. The building
is also inaccessible to wheelchair users.
The condition of the building is not
exceptionally bad but over £90,000 is required to be spent over the
next couple of years in order to deal with urgent and essential
repairs and maintenance problems.
It is the case that the school has been
reviewed on two occasions over the last few years. In October 2000
the Council agreed to keep the school open but stated that the
school must increase its number on roll. In September 2000 there
were 23 children on roll so, in fact, numbers have fallen since
that date.
Each of these issues is significant and taken
together, there are good reasons to take the issue of closure of St
Swithin’s Infant forward for wider public discussion.
IF THE SCHOOL CLOSES WHERE
WILL THE CHILDREN GO?
Children on roll at St Swithin’s will be
offered places at St Saviour’s CE Infant School in Larkhall. Normal
transport arrangements will apply.
Parents/carers who are seeking places for
nursery aged children would, if possible, be offered places at
other LEA nurseries in the area.
IF ST
SWITHIN’S CLOSES, WHEN WILL IT CLOSE?
The Council believes that the school should
close at the end of the school year 2004/05. Legally this is August
31 2005 although the children and staff would obviously not be
there on that date. This will mean that children currently in
Reception and any children joining the school in September 2004
will be the only groups affected as the other children currently at
the school will have left or be planning to leave in July 2005 in
any case.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE STAFF
IF THE SCHOOL CLOSES?
As is the case when a factory or office closes
the people working there are at risk of losing their jobs. The
Council always does all it can to try and place people in other
jobs. This is because we have no wish to lose experienced and
talented staff and any redundancy payments are taken from the total
education budget which leaves less to be spent on children.
IF THE SCHOOL CLOSES WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO
THE BUILDING?
The building is not owned by the Council. It
will revert to the Diocese of Bath & Wells who hold the
building on a lease from a private individual. There are
restrictions on the use of the building under that lease. It will
be a matter for the Diocese to decide what happens to the building
and site. Another Council service may express an interest in using
the building. The value or possible re-use of the building or the
land on which it is located has played no part in the decision of
the Council to begin this process.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Once this consultation is over, every form,
letter and e-mail will be copied and given to members of the
Council Executive. A copy of the minutes of the public meeting will
also be passed to the Executive.
The Executive will also receive a report
prepared by Officers which summarises and highlights the issues
raised during consultation. Officers will ask elected councillors
to accept the report and the recommendations of Officers. It is
entirely up to the members of the Executive whether they accept
these recommendations or whether they want to do something else.
The Executive has to show that, when taking
its decision, it has taken account of the views expressed in the
consultation. It does not have to agree with those views.
The Executive can decide to publish the legal
notice necessary to close a school. It can also decide to do
nothing and leave the school open or potentially, it could ask
Officers to carry out further consultation or investigation.
If a decision is taken to publish the legal
notice to close the school this would be published in September
2004 and there would be six weeks for people to send
representations, including objections to the Council.
If there are objections to the proposals to
close the school, then the issue has to go to the School
Organisation Committee which is separate and independent from the
Council. This Committee makes the final decision.
If there are no objections the Council can
take the final decision itself.
IMPORTANT DATES
Consultation begins May 10 2004
Public Meeting - Tuesday May 25 2004
To be held at St Swithin’s CE VC Infant
School, Dover Place, Bath at 6.30 p.m.
Consultation closes - June 11 2004
Council Executive - Tuesday July 5
2004
To be held at the Guildhall, Bath at
10 a.m. This is a public meeting so anyone can
attend. If you want to speak you need to contact Jo Morrison on
01225 394358 by Wednesday June 30 at the latest. She will explain
the details of the public speaking scheme.
RESPONSE FORM
Name
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Address
_______________________________________________________________________________________
I am a parent / carer of a child at St
Swithin’s Infant
School
I am a parent / carer of a pre-school
child
I am a member of staff at St Swithin’s
Infant
School
I am a Governor at St Swithin’s Infant
School
I am a local
resident
I am (please specify)
_______________________________________________________
DO YOU AGREE THAT ST SWITHIN’S INFANT
SCHOOL SHOULD CLOSE? Yes/No
I/We have the following
comments
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Please continue over the page if necessary
or send us a separate letter.
Please return to the postal address printed
on the front of this document.
ALL RESPONSES MUST BE RECEIVED BY 12 NOON ON 11 JUNE
2004
