Agenda item

AMENDED RECOMMENDATIONS AGREED:

(a)       That Cabinet recognises the developed governance and operational arrangements in the schools’ recent business case submission and is assured that the final information within the case demonstrates a workable model between the schools and therefore the collaboration will be supported by the Local Authority;

(b)       That the collaboration will be subject to an annual review process (agreed with the schools during consultation) to ensure to the Governing Bodies’ and Local Authority’s satisfaction that the arrangements are resilient and achieving the opportunities and outcomes that young people deserve; and

(c)        That further work should be undertaken to ensure that admissions and transport arrangements are equitable between Community Secondary Schools in the area and to support post 16 planning and partnerships.

The Cabinet Member for Education provided details of the responses to the consultation on the options for post-16 provision in the Flint area and outlined the process for evaluating the options.  He explained that copies of the Frequently Asked Questions for FlintHigh School and St. Richard Gwyn Catholic High School had been handed out.

The current post-16 provision located in Flint was separate Sixth Forms serving the two school communities.  In September 2013 the two schools launched an informal collaboration between FlintHigh School and St. Richard Gwyn Catholic High School, known as the Flint 6.

In accordance with the Welsh Government (WG) approved business cases for transformation of post-16 education in Flintshire, the new Sixth Form Centre at Connah’s Quay was scheduled to be opened in September 2016.  This would provide the whole curriculum on one site, and would be the designated destination for post-16 students from Holywell, Connah’s Quay, Shotton and Queensferry.  An independent Gateway Review in the Autumn of 2013 supported the state of readiness for implementation.

The presence of a new high quality provision would be expected to have an impact on student preferences and heightened the need for appropriate strategic planning by other providers.

In recognition of the different ethos of FlintHigh School as the local community school and the Catholic ethos of St. Richard Gwyn, which served the whole County, a different set of options for each school was presented at the consultations.  The consultation options for both schools were detailed in the report with the vast majority of respondents finding the collaboration with FlintHigh School and St Richard Gwyn to the most acceptable option.

In the consultations, the majority of respondents were students of the schools.  The responses from both school consultations and the dedicated consultation with young people strongly supported development of collaborative arrangements of post-16 provision between the schools. 

Letters sent from the Town Council and individuals echoed the messages in the main response in that the new collaborative arrangement between the two schools was felt to be a positive move and that it would need time to prove itself.

Issued had been raised over pastoral care and the Cabinet Member explained that pupils traditionally attended College for a variety of courses, particularly vocational courses, and Coleg Cambria had a well developed pastoral system and was a centre for the provision of courses to particularly vulnerable students.

Meetings had taken place with staff, Governors and parents at the two schools in December 2013, with wide distribution of the written consultation documents.  Full details of the responses were outlined in the report.

On any proposal for school organisational change, the key test was whether it had realistic proposals of securing better opportunities and outcomes for learners, together with greater resilience and efficiency. 

The Director of Lifelong Learning explained the importance of focussing on what was wanted for children and young people such as good opportunities and outcomes and an education system that was high on equity and high on excellence.

It was important that all young people had the support to reach their potential academically, culturally and in their sporting endeavours.  Personal or social circumstances such as poverty, gender, ethnic origin or family background should not be obstacles in them achieving their potential.

Education experts recognised that achieving educational equity was a complex challenge that needed to involve good classroom practice and school modernisation decisions.  It did not mean everyone getting an identical education but a personalised approach meeting the specific needs of individuals. 

It was important to have equity between institutions so that one community school was not advantaged in recruitment over another.

The Headteachers of both schools had, during recent consultation and subsequently, developed a business case with more resilient governance and operational arrangements which had been presented to Cabinet Members at a recent meeting.  They had set an appropriate challenge to the wider community of Flint to support the schools and ensure that entry and retention numbers were sufficient for a sustainable model.

Following that meeting with the Headteachers when the business case was presented, the Cabinet Member for Education proposed an amended set of recommendations as follows:

·        That Cabinet recognises the developed governance and operational arrangements in the schools’ recent business case submission and is assured that the final information within the case demonstrates a workable model between the schools and therefore the collaboration will be supported by the Local Authority;

·        That the collaboration will be subject to an annual review process (agreed with the schools during consultation) to ensure to the Governing Bodies’ and Local Authority’s satisfaction that the arrangements are resilient and achieving the opportunities that young people deserve; and

·        That further work should be undertaken to ensure that admissions and transport arrangements are equitable between Community Secondary Schools in the area and to support post 16 planning and partnerships

The Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance said the support from the schools was admirable.  He explained how the projections submitted on the future retention rates had raised concern which were not dissimilar to other areas where 6^th form provision had been removed.  However, following the meeting with the Headteachers it was clear that the situation in Flint was unique and they had worked together to develop a partnership which gave assurances on the future success of projected retention rates.  It was important that the collaboration continued the following year when the 6^th form pupil numbers were projected to rise to 275 which clearly demonstrate a viable 6^th form.

The Chief Executive said he was proud of the consultation exercise that had taken place where it was clear that no pre-determined decisions had been made.  Schools needed to be treated equitably and they would not be “set up to fail”.  A lot of hard work had been undertaken with the local authority and Headteachers of both schools to arrive at this point and he thanked all of those involved.

Members also thanked both schools for the work they had undertaken to provide assurances on the details of their business case.  Members also welcomed the annual review of the collaboration.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That Cabinet recognises the developed governance and operational arrangements in the schools’ recent business case submission and is assured that the final information within the case demonstrates a workable model between the schools and therefore the collaboration will be supported by the Local Authority;

(b)       That the collaboration will be subject to an annual review process (agreed with the schools during consultation) to ensure to the Governing Bodies’ and Local Authority’s satisfaction that the arrangements are resilient and achieving the opportunities and outcomes that young people deserve; and

(c)        That further work should be undertaken to ensure that admissions and transport arrangements are equitable between Community Secondary Schools in the area and to support post 16 planning and partnerships.