Issue details

Financial Implications

It is proposed to change the age range of the school and enlarge the school by establishing a primary school provision on the site. The school will have an intake in September 2016 of 60 in Reception Year, 30 in Year 1 and 30 in Year 2, eventually having a total capacity of 420 places.

a. Capital – The enlargement of the school requires the establishment of a 2FE primary school provision. A feasibility study was commissioned. The total cost is estimated to be in the region of £5.85m. Appropriate funding has been identified as part of the Medium Term Capital Programme. The costs of the project are estimates and these may increase as the project is developed. If the cost of the project is greater than 10% the Cabinet Member will be required to take a further decision to allocate the additional funding.
b. Revenue – Protection will be provided for three academic years on an agreed number of places. For the academic years starting September 2016, September 2017 and September 2018 protection will be provided on 120, 180 and 240 pupils respectively, in consultation with the school these numbers may be varied in relation to actual demand. Protection will be calculated on the number of agreed places times the relevant school funding factors. The sum of £6,000 will allocated towards the classroom setup costs for each new class. The school will also receive a one off £50k lump sum.
c. Human – St George’s Church of England Foundation School will appoint appropriate staffing for the establishment of the primary provision, and additional staff as the school size increases and the need arises.

Bold Steps for Kent and Policy Framework

These proposals will help to secure our ambition “to ensure every child will go to a good school where they make good progress and can have fair access to school places” as set out in ‘Bold Steps for Kent’.

The ‘Kent Commissioning Plan for Education Provision, 2013-18’ identified the demand for up to 87 Reception Year places within the Thanet district.  If capacity is not added, there will not be enough places available to meet demand and parental preference.

A total of 167 individual written responses were received: 154 respondents supporting the proposal; 5 objecting to the proposal and 8 respondents undecided.

Thanet District Council welcomed the proposal and members felt it had logical merit and would be beneficial for the children.

A summary of the comments received is provided in Appendix 1 of the report.

A summary of the views and comments given at the consultation meeting is in Appendix 2 of the report.

Views
The Local Members are Ms Zita Wiltshire and Mr Alan Terry, who have been consulted.

The view of the Headteacher and Governing Body:
St George’s Church of England Foundation School is passionate about its children; this proposal offers a unique opportunity to extend that passion to 4 – 11 year olds. It is unique and special. We have a special opportunity to bring our value education to these young people. The Diocese is committed to the school and its values, has seen what St George’s plan to do and welcome this opportunity.

We are in a very fortunate position that the school does have a great deal of land. The initial feasibility work has identified that the primary school provision could be built in the area of the site known at the depot field, therefore having least impact on the space and will not result in any loss of sports facilities. In addition, the entry to the proposed primary school provision site would be a considerable distance away from the secondary school site entry and could include a drive in and drive out facility minimising the impact on traffic congestion within the area.

St George’s delivers good education but it is the way it is delivered that it very important We would like to take this opportunity to assure parents/carers that the present standards would be upheld and, indeed, the leadership team would be expanded to reflect the increased responsibility of taking on a primary phase.

St George’s Church of England commends the proposal, which will offer an exciting opportunity to educate our young children which will make a difference to our community.

The view of the Diocese of Canterbury
The Diocese of Canterbury regards the expansion of St George’s Church of England Foundation School to include a Primary Phase as a very positive and forward-looking proposal. We have complete confidence in the capacity of the leadership and governance of the school, and in its ability to deliver very strong educational outcomes across the expanded age range. We welcome the collaborative and helpful dialogue with the Local Authority, and support their plans to commission these places in order to provide for anticipated need.

The view of the Area Education Officer:
The report to Education Cabinet Committee on the 27 September 2013 on the Commissioning Plan for Education Provision 2013-2018 identified the need further primary school capacity to serve Margate and recommended that consultation should take place with local schools in order to identify a solution. The Commissioning Plan for Education provision 2015-2019, which was considered by Education and Young People’s Services Cabinet Committee on the 24 September 2014 prior to approval by Cabinet on the 13 October 2014, identified the need to commission a new 2FE provision on the site of St George’s Church of England Foundation School by September 2016. The capacity for existing Thanet Primary Schools to expand further is limited due to site and Highways constraint. This is particularly the case in Margate. It has not been possible to identify a site in Margate suitable for a new school at this point in time, particularly with the requirement to have places established by September 2016. We are therefore proposing the commissioning of primary places in Thanet that will help to meet the demand from Margate and Westwood. Feasibility was undertaken showing that there is sufficient space for a 2FE primary school provision on the school site.