To be confirmed at the December, 2004 meeting

AT A MEETING of the SCHOOL ORGANISATION COMMITTEE held at The Castle, Winchester on 15 September 2004.

PRESENT:

Hampshire County Council

Councillors: Don Allen

Michael Cartwright

Brian Dash
Raymond Ellis

Mrs Jo Kelly

Mrs. Edith Randall

Dr. John Wall

Church of England

Alex Young

Brian Hay

Peter Gilliat

Tony Blackshaw

Roman Catholic Church

Mrs. Urszula Topp

Mrs Sheila Allen

Learning and Skills Council

Mrs. Stephanie Quant

School Governors

Jim Murray

Jack Carruthers

Alan Fender

Tom Wickstead

Mrs Sylvia Vyne

Frank Rust

Apologies

Simon Tong - Church of England

Mrs Veronica Roberts - Roman Catholic Church

Mrs Bobby Smith - School Governors

122 APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRMAN

RESOLVED:

That Frank Rust be appointed Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing year.

______________________________

FRANK RUST IN THE CHAIR
______________________________

123 APPOINTMENT OF VICE-CHAIRMAN

RESOLVED:

That Tom Wickstead be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing year.

124 MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on Friday 25 June, 2004 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Matters arising thereon:

Minute 115 - Minutes (Minute 109 - School Organisation Budget)

It was noted that the School Organisation Committee's budget would be submitted to the February 2005 meeting.

125 WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS

The Chairman welcomed those in attendance and in particular welcomed two newly appointed Members to the Committee, namely Peter Gilliat and Tony Blackshaw both representing the Church of England group.

At this point the Committee adjourned for five minutes to consider additional correspondence received in relation to Minute No. 126 below. (Appendix A refers)

126 PINEWOOD INFANT SCHOOL, FARNBOROUGH - PROPOSED CLOSURE
SOUTHWOOD INFANT SCHOOL, COVE - ESTABLISHMENT OF REPLACEMENT PROVISION FOR CHILDREN WITH SPEECH, LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION NEEDS

The Committee received the following deputations:-

Chairman of Governors of Pinewood Infant School - Mrs M. Stocks

Mrs M. Stocks gave a short introduction on behalf of the deputations and referred to a list of alleged errors, inaccuracies and concerns which were made available to the Committee. Appendices B and C (1) refers.

Governing Body of Guillemont Junior School - Clive Norris,
Wanda Terkuile and Mrs Karen Carter

The deputation explained that a close relationship with Pinewood Infant School had been established arising from a common philosophy towards education and inclusion. It was also noted that Pinewood Infant School remained one of its main feeder schools thereby provided continuity of primary education for both mainstream and language impaired special needs children. The following summarises the main points made in the deputation:-

· The Governors supported the continuation of Pinewood Infant School at its present location in Pinewood Park and in particular pressed the case for the retention of a 90 place infant school serving the local area.

· The Governors supported and wished to associate themselves with the representations made by the Governors of Pinewood Infant School and the community of Pinewood Park.

· The proposals would affect the local community and have a detrimental effect on the school roll at Guillemont Junior School.

· The Pinewood community and Guillemont Junior School would become isolated, leading to reduced choice and diversity for parents.

· There would be an increase of car journeys for primary age children.

· The proposals would affect the provision of childcare facilities for children from 0 to 11 years. Noting that there was a large pre-school on site and at nearby Guillemont Junior School with workplace nursery and an out of school club.

· The proposals were opportunistic and based on a review that was too limited in scope. The review failed to include other primary schools within the north west Farnborough geographical area.

· The financial case for the proposals was flawed as it only considered the cost associated with the Education budget and ignored the costs, for example of providing safe walking routes, increased congestion and other environmental costs affecting all primary schools in the review.

· The proposals were fundamentally flawed and did not recognise that Guillemont Junior School would be seriously affected.

Pinewood Family Group Pre-School - Ms Natasha Kilczewski

The deputation highlighted concerns about the proposals and the anticipated effect on Pinewood Family Group Pre-School. (Appendix C(2) refers).

Parent - Ian Holliday


The deputation submitted that the proposals were deeply flawed and non-compliant with School Organisation Committee guidance with regard to the inclusion of children with Special Educational Needs (SEN), surplus places and parental choice. (Appendix C(3) refers).


Parents - Mrs Carol Betts and Graham Carpenter

The deputation referred to the inadequacies, financial costs and journey times of the walking routes to the proposed alterative school, Manor Infant. (Appendix C(4) refers).

Councillor John Marsh (Rushmoor Borough Council: Fernhill Ward)

The deputation supported the representations made against the proposals and considered that the proposed closure was flawed because it did not take into account known housing developments, the inadequacies of the walking routes to the alternative school, Manor Infant, increased traffic congestion arising from the proposals and the isolated nature of the Pinewood community. (Appendix C (5) refers).

Pinewood Park Community - Mark Peters and Father Martyn Neale

The deputation drew attention to the needs of the local community and the belief that the proposal had been made on incorrect financial grounds. (Appendix C(6)refers).

County Councillor Adrian Collett (Hampshire County Council)

The deputation acknowledged the need to eliminate surplus places in schools but considered that in this particular instance the proposal was flawed for a number of reasons including;

· No proper review of primary school provision in North West Farnborough had been undertaken.

· The closure of Pinewood Infant School may be more expensive than rebuilding .

· Pinewood Infant School was an excellent school, highly regarded by the community.

· The impact of an isolated community on losing this valuable facility.

· The closure of Pinewood Infant School would threaten the future viability of the Pre-School, the Mother and Toddler Group and Guillemont Junior School.

· The inadequacies of the walking route to the alternative school, Manor Infant.

· The message given to the community that the actions of arsonists determine the provision of schools in Hampshire.


Chairman of Governors of Pinewood Infant School - Mrs M. Stocks

Mrs Stocks summarised the points made by the deputations and stressed the impact on the community of the proposed closure of Pinewood Infant School.





The County Education Officer presented the Local Education Authority's proposals (Item 5 in the Minute Book refers) to discontinue Pinewood Infant School, with effect from 31 August 2006; and to establish replacement provision for children with speech, language and communication needs at Southwood Infant School, with effect from 1 September 2006. The Committee also considered the representation letters received to the proposals following the publication of notices on 2 July, 2004.

The County Education Officer referred to the School Organisation Plan approved by the Committee on 16 December 2003. The plan set out how the Local Education Authority intended to match the supply and demand for school places, over a five year period. Reference was also made to Hampshire County Council's Corporate Strategy which aimed to have no more than 10% surplus primary school places countywide, and to the Council's commitment to deliver services whilst acting in the best interests of Hampshire and its citizens as a whole.

The Committee were advised that the proposals would remove surplus places in the area and reference was made to Table 3 on page 52 of the Committee papers. The forecast model was proved to be both robust and reliable and took into account all new housing for which planning permission had been approved. It was also based upon small area population forecasts which detailed the number of four year olds in an area. The forecast figures had been carefully checked and discussed in detail with the planning officers of Rushmoor Borough Council, as recently as 4 August 2004.The Committee were advised that of the 296 surplus places in the review area, 238 of these were in infant schools, representing a clear imbalance between the number of places available for infant and junior age children in the area. The closure of Pinewood Infant School would result in a reduction of forecast surplus places in 2009 to 58 (9.3%) in the area's infant schools. The combined overall reduction in forecast surplus places would be from 296 (19.5%) to 116 (8.7%).



The County Education Officer also advised the Committee that he was confident that the proposals for the speech, language and communication needs provision to transfer to Southwood Infant School could and would be effectively and sensitively managed, particularly given the extended timetable before proposed implementation in September 2006.

The County Education Officer also made reference to the alternative walking routes available to the proposed redesignated catchment school - Manor Infant School. It was noted that the individual routes proposed had been walked by the County Council's Passenger Transport Operations Manager (PTOM) and Education Officers. The inspection by the PTOM concluded that the proposed walking routes were comparable in terms of safety and distance to many other routes which children and parents presently walked to school in other urban areas of Hampshire.

In relation to pre-school provision it was noted that the vast majority of pre-schools in Hampshire operated successfully from off-school sites. Pinewood Family Group Pre-School would become one such setting.


The County Education Officer acknowledged the strength of feeling of the Pinewood community at the prospect of the school closing, but considered that the proposals were based on sound strategic reasons and represented the most efficient use of resources, in the interests of maintaining high standards of education for children throughout Hampshire. In conclusion the County Education Officer considered, taking into account all factors, that the proposals were in the best interests of Hampshire children.

The Committee debated the proposals and a number of questions and comments were made by Members.

Members adjourned in their respective groups to consider the proposals.

The groups in attendance voted in the following manner:-

Group Name	Vote
Hampshire County Council	For
Church of England	Against
Roman Catholic Church	Against
Learning and Skills Council	Abstained
School Governors	Against

Accordingly, as the Committee failed to reach a unanimous decision the Committee referred these proposals to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator, pursuant to paragraph 3(6) schedule 6 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.

RESOLVED:

That pursuant to paragraph 3(6) of schedule 6 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, the Secretary to the Committee inform the Office of the Schools Adjudicator that the Committee failed to reach a unanimous decision in respect of these proposals.

127 BLACKFIELD INFANT AND JUNIOR SCHOOL - PROPOSED AMALGAMATION

The County Education Officer presented the joint proposals of the Local Education Authority and Governing Body of Blackfield Junior School. (Item 6 in the Minute Book refers). The Committee considered the prescribed information to discontinue Blackfield Infant School with effect from 31 August 2006; and the prescribed alteration to Blackfield Junior School by extending the age range to become a Foundation Primary School, to cater for 540 boys and girls, irrespective of ability, aged 4 to 11, with effect from 1 September 2006.

The Committee were advised that even though no representations had been received to these proposals, approval was still required because these proposals were linked and the proposal by Blackfield Junior school, being a foundation school, must be considered by the Committee.

Councillor L. Dunsdon as local ward member also spoke in support of these proposals.


All groups voted to discontinue Blackfield Infant with effect from
31 August 2006 and to alter Blackfield Junior School by extending the age range to become a Foundation Primary School, to cater for 540 boys and girls irrespective of ability, aged 4 to 11, with effect from 1 September 2006.


RESOLVED:

That Blackfield Infant School be discontinued with effect from
31 August 2006 and Blackfield Junior School be altered by extending the age range to become a Foundation Primary School, to cater for 540 boys and girls irrespective of ability, aged 4 to 11, with effect from 1 September 2006.

128 SCHOOL ORGANISATION PLAN (2004 REVIEW)

The Committee considered the draft School Organisation Plan (2004 Review) (Item 7 in the Minute Book refers).

RESOLVED:

That the Local Education Authority be advised that the Committee has no comments on the School Organisation Plan (2004 Review).

(Jack Carruthers declared a non-pecuniary interest in the following item and remained at the meeting and took part in the group consideration )

129 THE SUNDRIDGE SCHOOL, COWPLAIN - ENLARGEMENT AND TRANSFER TO NEW SITE IN LEIGH PARK

The Committee were advised that there were no objections to these proposals, and accordingly, the Local Education Authority was required to determine whether to implement them. It was noted that the Local Education Authority had been unable to make a determination within the statutory time period and, therefore, the proposals had fallen to the Committee for determination. (Item 8 in the Minute Book refers). The Committee considered information given by the LEA which indicated that that the consultation undertaken by the LEA in respect of these proposals had been ongoing throughout the year, involving the governors, the head teacher and parents.

RESOLVED:


That consideration of the proposals be deferred to the Committee meeting to be held on 15 December 2004.

130 CONSULTATION ON THE (EDUCATION)(MISCELLANEOUS) (ENGLAND)(AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS 2004

The Committee were advised that the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) was consulting on a number of mainly technical amendments being proposed to school organisation regulations, namely: the Education (School Organisation Proposals) (England) Regulations 1999 (no 2213); the Education (School Organisation Committees) (England) Regulations 1999 (no 700); and the Education (References to Adjudicator) Regulations 1999 (no 702). (Item 9 in the Minute Book refers).

The consultation period ended on 30 September 2004 and the Committee was a statutory consultee.

The Committee raised concern about amended regulations 7-10 which proposed to include a nursery school representative within the Schools Group where there was at least one such school in the area. It was noted that in Hampshire there were only 2 nursery schools and therefore the Committee considered that this amendment would result in the make up of the Schools Group being disproportionate with a significant over representation of this group of schools. It was felt that the Schools Group already adequately represented the make up of schools in Hampshire. In addition, the Committee considered that due to the small number of nursery schools, it could prove difficult to find an appropriate representative.


RESOLVED:

That the Secretary to the Committee respond to the DfES guidance document setting out the Committee's concerns relating to amended regulations 7-10.

131 REVISED GUIDANCE ON STATUTORY PROPOSALS TO CLOSE RURAL SCHOOLS

The Committee noted that new guidance for the consideration of closures of rural schools, would be effective from 1 October 2004. (Item 10 in the Minute Book refers)

RESOLVED:

That the item be noted.

132 HAWTHORNS SCHOOL, BASINGSTOKE - PROPOSED CLOSURE

The Secretary to the Committee confirmed that no objections had been received in response to the public notices published on 26 May 2004 and accordingly the Local Education Authority had determined to implement the proposals as set out in the notice. (Item 11 in the Minute Book refers.)

RESOLVED:

That the Committee note the action taken by the Local Education Authority.

133 DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS

The Committee noted the following dates:

· 15 December 2004 at 2.15 p.m.

· 4 February 2005 at 10.15 a.m.

· 15 April 2005 at 10.15 a.m.

· 17 June 2005 at 10.15 a.m.

· 23 September 2005 at 10.15 a.m.

· 2 December 2005 at 10.15 a.m.