Issue - meetings

(a)       That the Committee requests that Flintshire County Council's Planning department negotiates with developers of the Northern Gateway site, the inclusion of a new high school as part of the infrastructure and provision needed for the allocation of houses if a trigger point is reached, perhaps linking with the new Technology facility; and

(b)       That the issues which had been raised during the meeting on pupil transfer and transition, transport, redeployment of teaching staff and teaching and support expertise, and support for new uniform provision, be fed back to Cabinet as part of their consideration of the report on 6 August 2015

The Chief Officer (Education and Youth) introduced a report to inform the Committee of the responses from the statutory consultation period on the sustainability of John Summers High School, and options for future education provision.  He advised that comments from the Committee were invited in advance of the Cabinet being requested to conclude on a formal proposal.

The Chief Officer provided background information and referred to the key considerations as detailed in the report concerning the sustainability of John Summers High School, and transitional issues.  He explained that whilst the concerns and anxieties of the local community were recognised, the Authority had a duty to provide high quality secondary education which was sustainable and affordable for pupils in the future.  He advised that due to the low annual intake of pupils in year seven and financial pressures,  John Summers High School was not sustainable and would not be able to meet the breadth of curriculum required by the Learning and Skills (Wales) Measure going forward. 

The Chief Officer commented on historical pupil data and the long term trend of low numbers at post 16 at John Summers which had led to the work around transformation. He explained that there was a downward trend of pupils in neighbouring primary schools transferring into the School and that the average transfer rate over the past two years was only 60% from the closest schools.  He reported on the projections for housing yield for the Northern Gateway project which was to be developed between 2017-2028 and advised that the total ‘yield’ of secondary school age child numbers eligible for admission to John Summers was 199.  If the full cohort of children were assumed to be admitted the number of pupils on roll at John Summers would be in the region of 504 when all projections were combined, which was below the four form entry of 600 places required at 11-16 age range.    The housing yield figures did not take into account parental choice or pupil movement.   The Chief Officer also commented on the prediction for future admission numbers based on birth rates in Flintshire and the Shotton/Queensferry areas in particular.

The Chief Officer went on to report on the implications around funding, sustainability, and staffing.  He referred to a reduction in funding for schools of around 2% due to nationally agreed pay awards and employers pension contribution increases.  He advised that in 2016/17, these costs/pressures wold increase again with the national implementation of the Single Tier Pension being a major factor.  To provide John Summers with a budget which enabled the school to meet its curriculum requirements, a considerable subsidy would be required and he cited an example which demonstrated the differential per pupil funding between John Summers and another high school in the County.  The Chief Officer stated that the Council would not be able to continue to subsidise John Summers High School without adversely impacting on other schools which were comparatively low funded.  The School would also need to address further challenges  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17