| 1. Southampton City Council has the opportunity over the next decade to transform school provision in the city. Raising standards of attainment, as well as other outcomes for children and young people, is a priority for the city. The intention of this review is to help create a pattern of school provision which will enable children to achieve excellent results. This will be done by ensuring that schools are able to offer high quality provision, which is well integrated between phases, accommodated in good quality buildings in the right locations.
2. The Council has already taken decisions about reshaping secondary education. It intends to create Learning Campuses which enable better joining up of education and other services in local communities. This development needs to give full consideration to the needs of children at the primary phase, and to ensure that the planning of educational provision in each locality is coherent.
3. The national “Building Schools for the Future†programme is expected to provide resources to renew and replace existing secondary school buildings. A parallel programme of investment in primary school provision has also been announced. Southampton City Council intends to achieve the best outcomes for children by planning these investments in an integrated way, which promotes collaboration and joint working between schools and phases of education, as well as with other services provided by the Council and its partners. Whilst recognising that different funding streams may carry different labels, it is the intention of the Council that the transformation of services for children is planned and carried through as a fully integrated and joined up project.
4. Some of the decisions already taken about the secondary phase have implications for primary education, notably:
- the intention to relocate Regents Park Community College to the St Mark’s CE Junior School site, incorporating the former Civil Service Sports Ground as playing fields
- the intention to relocate The Sholing Technology College to the current Itchen College site (assuming Itchen College is able to carry through its plans for relocation)
As plans for “Building Schools for the Future†develop there may well be further opportunities for joint planning in particular areas.
5. It is therefore a priority to look at the effects such developments in the secondary phase would have on primary provision, and prioritise reviews affecting the areas in question.
6. Changing demographics continue to have an impact on schools in certain parts of the city. In some areas there remain significant numbers of surplus places, which have the potential to jeopardise the effectiveness and viability of some schools. In other parts of the city there is considerable pressure on school places. This is due to underlying long term demographic trends, as well the more recent impact of migration and a rising birth rate. Housing growth also could be a factor in some areas.
7. The national “Primary Capital Programme†will provide resources for the improvement of primary school buildings over a 14 year period commencing in 2009. Southampton’s first allocation for 2009-11 is £8 million. It is clearly essential that this money is targeted at the right schools in order to achieve the best long term outcome for the city as a whole.
8. The following paragraphs give an explicit rationale for the recommendation of the areas proposed for review.
Primary Vision and Primary Capital Programme
9. Recommendations (ii) and (ii) are linked. Before any area or school specific review takes place an overall vision for the future of primary education in the city must be agreed. This should take account of the developments that are under way in the secondary phase, as well as linking with other developments in the city. The strategy for the Primary Capital Programme will be consulted on in parallel, particularly in relation to the proposed use of the first allocation of resources in 2009-11.
City Centre Freemantle
10. The possible relocation of Regents Park Community College to the St Mark’s CE Junior School site on Shirley Road, incorporating the former Civil Service Sports Ground as playing fields has been welcomed by both schools and the local community. Clearly it is important to ensure that the future of St Mark’s CE Junior School has been planned taking into account this potential development. St Mark’s is a junior school serving pupils between the ages of seven and eleven. It has three feeder infant schools: Banister Infant, Freemantle CE Infant and St John’s Infant and Nursery School. Any review of St Mark’s must therefore encompass these schools.
11. In addition both Freemantle and St John’s have in the past expressed an interest in acquiring all through primary status. This is a question that the review could address.
12. A further consideration affecting St John’s Infant and Nursery School is the redevelopment of the Lower High Street and adjacent areas, which will have implications for pupil numbers at the school and land use in the area.
13. There are specific issues arising from changing demographics affecting the City Centre/Freemantle area. Significant new housing development has already taken place, and further development is planned in the future. The Freemantle area has also been affected by recent migration which has increased the number of children in the area seeking a place at local schools, and altered the ethnic and linguistic profile of the school population.
Newlands/Mason Moor
14. Newlands Primary School and Mason Moor Primary School have both been subject to review in recent times. Newlands Primary School was formed following the “amalgamation†of predecessor Infant and Junior Schools. A successful bid to government resulted in an allocation from the Targeted Capital Fund towards the rebuilding of the school.
15. Despite the Millbrook/Redbridge Review there remains a significant number of surplus places in the area, against the measured “net capacity†of the two schools. This is affected by the fact that the planned admission number has been reduced at Newlands, although no accommodation has been taken out of use.
16. The redevelopment of the Ordnance Survey site on Romsey Road (in the Newlands catchment area) is likely to lead to more family housing in the area. Whilst this does not necessarily present a problem in the short term, if it is intended to rebuild Newlands Primary School, it is essential that this done on the basis of the long term needs of the area.
17. The proposed review is intended to resolve this issue and establish the right specification for the rebuilding of Newlands Primary School and at what size, taking into account the impact on Mason Moor Primary School. Both schools have important linkages with other early years and community services which will be fully taken into account. It is not intended that this review examine any other school in the Millbrook/Redbridge area.
Sholing
18. The potential relocation of The Sholing Technology College to the Itchen College site creates the possibility of establishing a learning campus in the east of the city. Sholing Infant School is immediately adjacent to the existing TSTC site, and Sholing Junior School is immediately adjacent to the existing Itchen College site. The opportunity of creating an integrated campus is one which all three schools have expressed enthusiasm about exploring. This opportunity is dependent on Itchen College’s plan to relocate to Eastpoint in Thornhill. This proposal is supported by all key partners including Southampton City Council, the Learning and Skills Council, the board of Eastpoint and Thornhill Plus You. It is therefore proposed that a review takes place to enable the creation of a campus if the Itchen College site becomes available.
Glenfield Infant School/Beechwood Junior School
19. Glenfield Infant School and Beechwood Junior School were part of the Bitterne/Townhill Park Primary Review. Both schools continue to feel the effect of surplus pupil numbers. As a consequence of Moorlands becoming an all through primary school Beechwood is now largely dependent on pupils from Glenfield. The planned admission number at Beechwood has already been reduced from 90 to 60. The schools are on nearby, but not adjacent sites. It is recommended that options are explored for the future of the two schools, including the possibility of closer governance and management arrangements, such as federation, the formation of a primary school using both sites, or consolidating both schools on to one or other of the existing sites.
Hightown Primary School, Kanes Hill Primary School and Thornhill Primary School
20. There is a significant number of surplus places across the three primary schools in Thornhill. There has already been a reduction in planned admissions number at Thornhill from 60 to 45. It is recommended that a review takes place to examine future needs in the area and to bring forward proposals, including proposals for their future management and governance. This would include examining opportunities for delivering a wider range of services for children and the community from the schools.
Weston
21. A review of primary school provision in Weston would open up the possibility of developing a learning campus in Weston based on the Chamberlayne Park School, Weston Park Infant and Junior School sites and adjacent land. Since Weston Shore Infant School is a feeder school to Weston Park Junior it would also come in scope of such a review.
Consultation on scope and schedule of specific reviews
22. Stakeholders will be invited to comment on the proposed scope of the review areas and to make any other observations about issues which should be considered.
Other possible reviews or locally driven initiatives
23. There are other areas of the city where a review might be appropriate in association with other developments in the area (for example the redevelopment of secondary school sites through Building Schools for the Future), or the impact of major housing developments (for example Woolston Riverside). In these cases Southampton City Council would welcome discussions with schools about the scope of a review intended to address a specific local development.
24. It is also recognised that new models of governance and management are being encouraged and piloted across the country. Southampton City Council would welcome proposals from schools about how they might work in closer collaboration. In particular, if two or more schools can agree a joint approach for their future development, the Council would consider working with them on the necessary consultative processes to effect an agreed programme of changes. This includes the possibility of closer linkages between paired infant and junior schools, closer linkages between the primary, secondary and special sectors, of closer linkages between all schools in an area, potentially within the framework of soft or hard federations.
25. It is not intended to review any area or school not explicitly named in this report, unless the consultation on the scope and timescale for the review indicates that there is a clear local demand for a review to be considered. Where a strong local consensus emerges for proposals which would help to deliver better organisational arrangements Southampton City Council would be happy to consider facilitating the necessary consultation and decision making processes. |