Archived decisions

Contact: Bob Lloyd-Jones, Education Officer (Secondary and Post-16) 01962 846364

1 Summary

1.1. This paper describes the case for closing the sixth form at Horndean Technology College and seeks a decision giving authority to the County Education Officer to undertake consultations with the college and its community.

2 Background

2.1. The County Council needs to consider the closure of a school sixth form which is becoming unviable and which may only be sustained by providing funding from the college's 11-16 budget. The governors at the college are recommending that the sixth form should be closed to new admissions into Year 12 from 1 September 2004.

2.2. An alternative exists for the school to retain the sixth form by exercising virement from the 11-16 budget and investing in an uncertain future for the sixth form. This would be based on the premise that it might be possible to recruit more 16-19 year olds in the future. This alternative has been rejected by the governors.

2.3. The college's sixth form was opened in September 1975, following the reorganisation of Hampshire's post-16 provision in 1974. This resulted in most sixth form places being provided in tertiary colleges. As from 1975 it was one of only three county schools to have sixth forms. There are now 71 secondary comprehensive schools in Hampshire, 10 of which have sixth forms. Eight schools acquired sixth forms during their period of grant maintained status, but one of these at Petersfield Community School was closed from September 2001 because it became unviable.

2.4. The catchment area for Horndean Technology College includes Horndean, Clanfield, Rowlands Castle, the northern part of Waterlooville and the rural areas between. Traditionally, the college only recruits students to its sixth form from pupils already attending the college in Year 11.

2.5. The wider area of South East Hampshire, including Havant and Waterlooville, has within it two 16-19 institutions of high reputation. These are South Downs College of Further Education and Havant Sixth Form College. If the sixth form at Horndean were to be closed, students would suffer little or no penalty as a result because of the high quality teaching and breadth of courses available at the two colleges. Large numbers of pupils from Horndean already opt to attend these colleges, with smaller numbers going to other colleges in the local region. The chart below shows the destinations of students for the beginning of the academic year 2002-2003.

2.6. Table 1

Breakdown of those continuing in education by institution and gender - Horndean Technology College

Further Education Institution	Male	Female
Chichester College	1	1
Fareham College	1
Havant College	21	24
Highbury College	1	3
Horndean Technology College	17	31
Marsden Tennis Academy	1
Merrist Wood College	1
South Downs College	57	84
Sparsholt College	1	1
Total	101	144

2.7. Student access to Havant and South Downs Colleges in particular is not difficult. The latter is sited some two miles south of the school's catchment area and both colleges are well served by roads - including the A3M - between Horndean and their locations.

3 The closure of the sixth form

3.1. Since 1998 the numbers entering the sixth form have been steadily falling. The table below illustrates this.

3.2. Table 2

Sixth form numbers at Horndean

	Year 12	Year 13	Year 14	Total
1998	116	114	7	237
1999	104	95	9	208
2000	78	80	5	163
2001	70	61	6	137
2002	53	46	5	104

3.3. Such has been the concern generated by the falling numbers, that the governors are recommending closure even though this is set against a background of improved `A' level results. In the year ending July 2002 there was a 100% pass rate at `A' level, preceded by two years of much improved results. Even these clear improvements have not resulted in halting the decline in recruitment numbers.

3.4. The decision by the governors to recommend closure is made with regret, but is one which would not be without benefits:

· the 11-16 budget would no longer be required to compensate for any 16-18 shortfall

· the efforts of the teaching staff could be wholly focussed on Key Stage 3 and GCSE courses

· the college's main focus would be on 11 - 16, in line with the great majority of Hampshire's secondary schools.

3.5. In making their closure recommendation, the governors were clear that no student currently in the sixth form would be disadvantaged by such a change. Those students currently in their final year would be able to complete their courses and sit their examinations in May/June 2003 with the full and comprehensive teaching support traditionally provided. Similarly, all those on the AS programme in Year 12 would also receive the full support necessary for them to complete their courses and continue with their `A' level studies in preparation for their examinations in 2004.

4 Legal requirement to consult

4.1. The proposal to close the sixth form represents an alteration to Horndean Technology College as a community school for the purposes of Section 28 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. There is, therefore, a duty under Section 28(5) for the County Council as the local education authority to consult such persons as it appears to be appropriate, before publishing any proposals. If, in due course, it is decided following such consultation to publish public notices, and objections are received, the matter would then be referred to the School Organisation Committee for approval.

5 Conclusions

5.1. In order to continue with a full exploration of the governors' recommendations that the sixth form at Horndean Technology College be closed to new students from September 2004, there will need to be consultations with:

· The parents and teachers at the school

· With other interested parties, including the neighbouring 16 - 19 colleges and the Learning and Skills Council for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

5.2. A report on the consultations will need to be presented to the Education Policy Review Committee on 20 May 2003, followed by a decision by the Executive Member for Education on 22 May 2003 whether to publish notices.

6 Recommendation

6.1. Authority be given for the County Council as the Local Education Authority to consult with the college community, the local Learning and Skills Council and other interested parties on the closure of the sixth form at Horndean Technology College.

Section D - Local Government Act 1972 - Background Documents

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extend in the preparation of this report.

There are no background documents.

SC/BLJ/2003/feb03/feb063LJhw