Archived decisions

Contact: Chris Holt, Education Officer (Primary) 01962 846462 Peter Colenutt, Assistant Education Officer (School Review) 01962 846157

1 Summary

1.1 This report seeks authority to consult on changes to primary school provision in the North West area of Farnborough. The review comes about following the fire at Pinewood Infant School on 27 March 2003. At the time of the fire, the school had 85 pupils on roll against a capacity of 180 places including 15 places in the resourced provision for language impaired (LI) children. These places are included in the capacity figure. The County Council standard forecasting model shows that the number on roll in January 2008 is expected to be 78, excluding the LI resourced provision children. The forecast numbers at neighbouring schools also show a significant fall in pupil numbers, as shown in table 1.

2 Strategic implications of surplus places

2.1 The draft School Organisation Plan, 2003/04 - 2007/08, draws attention to the rise in surplus places in primary schools as a result of demographic changes in Hampshire. In 1997, there were 6.4% surplus places in Hampshire primary schools; the figure in January 2003 was 8%. This is forecast to rise to 13% in January 2008. The number of four year olds in the county has been declining over recent years and this trend will continue, with a forecast reduction of 12.6% over the 10 year period from 1998 to 2008, equivalent to 1,860 children. The trend is particularly pronounced in some of the urban areas where there was rapid development in the 1960s and 1970s, where the population has aged and the number of children significantly reduced.

2.2 In addition to making the best use of financial resources and accommodation, the removal of surplus places offers an opportunity for investment in provision which would otherwise not be available. Proposals for re-organisation, therefore, should consider the need for such provision and the extent to which it can be met within existing buildings, or through new provision financed from the sale of land or from other sources.

3 Background

3.1 Since fire destroyed the original school buildings in March 2003, Pinewood Infant school has operated from temporary buildings on its original site. The current number on roll is 80. Pinewood Infant School is a linked to Guillemont Junior School as also are Parsonage Farm Infant and Southwood Infant schools.

3.2 Given the urban nature of the area, the close proximity of infant, junior and primary Schools and the general availability of places, there is considerable movement across catchment area boundaries due to parental preference. Table 1 below shows the numbers of pupils and places at Guillemont Junior and its linked infant schools together with its nearest neighbouring infant and junior schools at Manor. The current surplus school places in the combined schools' catchment areas, based on the September 2003 school census returns and Small Area Population Forecasts (SAPF) data, amounts to 192 places, and is forecast to rise to 315 places by September 2008.

3.3 Table 1 - Accommodation and rolls

The overall picture, therefore, is one of increasing surplus places, with surplus places rising to over 20% by 2008.

3.4 The current percentage of surplus places at Pinewood Infant School is significantly above the 25% level which the Audit Commission and DfES would consider action requires to be taken by LEAs to achieve a substantial reduction.

3.5 The participation rate for Pinewood Infant School (i.e. the percentage of catchment area four year olds attending the school) in September 2003 was 52%. Guillemont Junior school takes most of the children from Pinewood Infant School, and is also linked with Parsonage Farm Infant and Southwood Infant Schools.

3.6 Table 2 below indicates the number of Pinewood Infant school catchment area children attending schools identified in Table 1.

3.7 Table 2

Manor Infant	Parsonage Farm Infant	Southwood Infant
15	21	1

3.8 There are no allocations for new housing included in Rushmoor Borough Council's local plan within the catchment areas of the schools listed in Table 1. However, there are a number of developments of Housing Association and MoD sites which will give a net gain of around 100 homes. These are included within the forecasts in Table 1.

4 Early Years Provision

4.1 Pinewood Infant School accommodates a playgroup on site registered for 24 pre-school children. There is a privately run workplace nursery at Guillemont Junior School registered to provide for 14 places for children aged 6 months - 5 years. Parsonage Farm Infant School houses a maintained nursery unit for 30 full-time equivalent (fte) children. There is also a pre-school group within the catchment area of Manor Infant School located at St John's Hall, St John's Road, registered for 24 children.

4.2 The schools listed in Table 1 sit within the Rushmoor wards shown in Table 3 below:

Table 3 - current analysis of early years provision within the defined review area

4.3 The overall picture, therefore, is one of a shortfall of 113 early years places with the majority in the Cove and Southwood ward.

5 Specialist resourced provision for language impaired children

5.1 Pinewood Infant School currently has accommodation for 15fte infant aged children with language impairment which is linked to similar provision at Guillemont Junior catering for 20fte junior aged children. The model of operation at both schools reflects an integrated approach thus enabling children to spend much of their time in mainstream classes with support. The LI resourced provision at these schools is designed to provide for children in the north west Farnborough area and beyond. The need for this specialist provision for primary age, language impaired children will remain for the foreseeable future.

6 Building Issues

6.1 Pinewood Infant School is currently accommodated in temporary buildings. The playgroup which operates on the school site is housed in a separate, permanent building which was not damaged by the fire. The buildings at each of the other schools referred to in this report are in permanent accommodation and have been surveyed as part of the work to produce Asset Management Plans. No major structural issues have been identified.

7 Possible action to remove surplus places

7.1 In considering the scope of the review area it was recognised that school reviews had taken place in the North Farnborough area in the last three years. The local demography and main transport routes were also taken into consideration when defining the review area. Options for addressing this imbalance are considered below.

7.2 There are 315 surplus school places forecast in 2008 (Table 1 refers), of which 261 are in the infant schools and 54 in the junior schools. This represents a clear imbalance between the number of places available for infant and junior age children in the area.

7.3 Option 1 - rebuild Pinewood Infant School

The decision could be taken to rebuild Pinewood Infant School including the existing provision for early years and specialist language resourced facility as:

a) an existing 180 place infant school

This option is not recommended due to the high numbers of current and forecast surplus places. The forecast numbers indicate that a 2 form entry infant school would have in excess of 50% surplus places in 2008,

Or

b) a 90 place infant school.

Although reducing the number of surplus places for infant age children, this option would still result in a surplus of 171 places in the area (Table 1 refers). This size of infant school lies outside the County Council policy as set out in the School Organisation Plan which, wherever possible, states that an infant school should be between 180 and 450 places. As such, this option is not recommended.

7.4 Option 2 - amalgamate Pinewood Infant and Guillemont Junior Schools to form a primary school

This would result in a primary school with places for up to 90 infant age, and places for up to 360 junior age children. As in option 1b above, this option only partially tackles the issue of the over supply of places for infant age children in the area and is, therefore, not recommended.

7.5 Option 3

Close Pinewood Infant School and redesignate the school's catchment area to Manor Infant School. Relocate LI resourced provision to Southwood Infant School and relocate the existing playgroup within the area. This option has the greatest impact on reducing the number of infant age surplus places in the area, from 261 to 81. As shown in Table 1, Manor Infant School could accommodate the Pinewood children during the forecast period. If there is a short-term need for temporary accommodation then this can be considered.

7.6 The walking distance from Pinewood Infant School to Manor Infant School is just under one mile.

8 Consultation

8.1 Meetings have taken place with the infant school staff, governing body and parents following the fire. At the meetings, the representative groups were advised of the LEAs responsibility regarding the supply and demand of school places and as such the need to review surplus places within the area, before any decision regarding Pinewood Infant School's future could be made. During further consultation, opportunities for early years development could be considered, as well as taking into account other community needs, particularly for parents and children.

9 Recommendation

9.1 That the Executive Member for Education approves the undertaking of local consultations on the possible closure of Pinewood Infant School. It is proposed that the consultations take place during the spring term 2004 with a report back to the Education Policy Review Committee in the summer term 2004.

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.

NB The list excludes:

1 Published works

2 Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined the Act.