Langrish Primary School

LANGRISH PRIMARY SCHOOL

Outdoor Assets Committee(OAC) Meeting 22 February 2018

Presentation to Parents

Present:

James Greenwood (Co-opted Governor, Chair of Governors and Chair of OAC)

Gareth Baynham-Hughes (Associate Member of OAC)

Ray Dudman (Parent Governor and Health and Safety Governor)

Paul Savage (Parent Governor and Chair of Resources Committee)

Mary Downes (Clerk to Langrish FGB and Committees)

The following parents were in attendance:

Tony Cannon, Gemma Klein, Alex Kershaw, Richard Kershaw, Richard Pelling, Dylan Pearson,

Angharad Snow, Sally Wadsworth, Mark Rowden, Julian Elsden, Kelly Driesen, Matt Wigginton,

Jenny Machin, Vicky Gardner, Rachel Russell, Rupert Howell.

Apologies had been received from the following parents: -

Gary Pye, Elizabeth Castle, Sarah Welsh, Nicola Wigginton, Claire Langley-Smith, Katie Castle

Introduction

James welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced those present.

Presentation

James gave a presentation - a copy of which will be sent to all those present after the meeting.

The presentation covered the following aspects:

• Original drivers (questions) behind the formation of the OAC:
• Remit of the OAC;
• Actions taken by the OAC, including advice from HCC, curriculum and resources considerations, engagement with parents; production of consultation documents;
• A summary of the OAC’s conclusions
• Potential to form a parental group;
• Success criteria for such a group;
• Timescales and challenges;
• Costs (actual 2016/17 and expected/actual to date 2017/18);
• HCC Role & requirements;
• Staffing;
• Access and Safeguarding requirements;
• Summary

The meeting was then opened to questions.

Question and Answer Session

Q: Who decides if the success criteria are met?

A: If the pool is operated as a “School” pool, governors would make the decision; if the pool is operated as a “Community” pool, HCC would make the decision. It was also noted that as HCC are the landlords they would need to be kept abreast of the situation and may have an input in either case.

C: There is a perception that if a decision to retain the pool is made, if it is not supported by the school then it will not happen.

A: A decision must be made. This is not a “you” and “us” situation – this is a collaborative and constructive exercise.

Q: If the curriculum has to teach swimming then if the pool had to close, the school would still have to fund the costs of swimming off site?

A: The school does not have to teach children to swim – the curriculum states that children “should be able to swim 25 metres” at the end of the primary phase. There are other pools in the area – Bedales and Churcher’s where pupils could be taken, probably for free, with the only costs for the school being transport & staff time. Potentially, this could be needed just for pupils who cannot swim.

Q: Does Hampshire CC provide any funding for the costs of swimming?

A: No – HCC provide funds for the curriculum.

Q: If the school hired the pool, would these costs be given to the Pool Committee?

A: It cannot at present be assumed that school would hire the pool, as it would be looking to meet the curriculum requirements for swimming. These are that pupils should be able to swim 25 metres and perform safe self rescue. The current Langrish pool does not meet these criteria.

Q: Do you know how other schools are managing with less outside space? Why is there an expectation that the school should provide more?

A: We want to do more sports and provide the opportunity for more clubs and a wider range of activities.

Q: Who has developed the success criteria?

A: Governors. One factor was the discovery that HCC (through its pool closure fund) would provide the hard-standing area at no cost to the school.

Q: Why does the school need additional hard-standing provision?

A: This was one of the first questions looked at (Original Drivers slide was represented at this point). One of the responsibilities of the Governors is to maximise the school’s assets. It would be brilliant to have the pool, but the governors also want to make strategic provision for the future.

C: The addition of the requirement to fund the hard standing is an opportunistic attempt to undermine the parents’ wish to keep the pool open.

A: Governors are focused on taking action in the best interests of the children.No timescales have been agreed for the success criteria and we should concentrate on delivering a sustainable plan for the funding of the pool day to day and also building a sinking fund for repairs and future developments. We have no guarantee that the pool closure fund will continue to exist and we do not want to end up in the future with an unusable pool due to failure and no funding to repair it or to fill it in.

C: There has been a perception that a negative picture has been painted to put parents off.

A: This is not a fake consultation and no decision has been taken. There is a genuine requirement for the school to think strategically. The GB has to take long term strategic decisions.

Q: Regarding the “Ropley model” circulated to parents, the viability of this pool is supported by it being available for external hire. This would be difficult for Langrish, given the challenges and HCC requirements on no access.

A: This would only apply during the school day when pupils are on site. Ropley were lucky in that there is an entirely separate access to the pool.

C: One option to explore would be through use by after school clubs and hire outside school hours.

A: Yes, it would be possible hire the pool out after school hours, evenings and during the summer holidays. Other local schools in the area have been approached to see if they would use it but this has been unsuccessful.

Q: If parents were to run the pool, would the school use it?

A: This would be an operational decision for the school. It was agreed that the school would be approached to see if some initial thoughts could be provided to fully answer this question.

C: From informal discussions, there is some willingness in the community to support the continuation of the pool, including financially.

Q: Where do the school governors stand on the issue of access, for example, during the first two weeks of the holiday?

A: This would depend upon the Pool Committee satisfying all the requirements (see presentation) and on whether the pool was being operated as a “school” pool or a “community” pool.

C: The time (and cost) factor involved in transporting children elsewhere needs to be factored into the discussions.

C: I understand that it is not possible to second guess the operational decisions, but I would be reluctant to enter into a collaborative arrangement with governors if the support at an operational level is not fully there.

C: I would challenge the description of the pool as “fit for fun”. I have taught many children to swim in this pool.

A: Governors do not and cannot take operational decisions. The Head Teacher is also a governor in her own right and is fully aware of the actions of the OAC, the outcomes of surveys of parents and the progress to date. We all need to engage positively.

C: Unless the Head Teacher is involved, it seems pointless to continue talking about this as an opportunity.

Q: When might we get an operational commitment?

A: The school leadership team (SLT) is responsible for taking operational decisions and making choices about timetables etc. They have to make changes constantly to ensure Langrish pupils have the maximum opportunities.

C: It is difficult to make a commitment, with so many unknowns further down the road.

C: From a personal viewpoint, I could not see myself volunteering to join a Parental Pool Committee, if my own children as pupils at the school were not going to be using it.

A: If the pool is kept as an asset, it should be seen as an asset for Langrish School first and foremost.

Q: What has changed since the time of the previous Head Teacher in terms of funding for the pool?

A: There have been considerable changes in terms of the curriculum, that impact upon the priorities of the SLT, and the funding situation of the school has also changed. FOLS raised £7K last year – fundraising for the pool would need to be separate from this.

A: The pool is forty years old. At Ropley, £45K had been spent on their pool three years ago, just prior to it being taken over by their Parents Committee. If parents are to run the pool, a sustainable model is needed beyond the next eighteen months. There is no guarantee that HCC will continue to have a Pool Closure Fund.

Q: Does anyone know who was involved when the pool was initially built?

A: This information is not known.

Q: What are the timescales involved?

A: A decision will need to be made by 24 May 2018.

Q: Are there any external grants available?

A: Sport England current grants programme appears to be looking at £1million plus projects. There could be a possibility of developers’ contributions from the proposed housing development, however, it is only a small development of 27 houses. Additionally, the parish council’s priority is for funding for a village/community facility.

Governors need help to explore these and other funding opportunities.

Governors have taken this as far as possible.

C: One of the most difficult challenges would appear to be the staffing requirements for testing.

A:This is carried out currently by a member of staff, but additional people would need to be trained to do this. Testing is only required on the days that the pool is actually used.

Q: What is the current functional state of the pool?

A: It is reasonably serviceable, but the heating system struggles and needs replacing.

C: It should be possible, by using more efficient heating systems, to reduce the heating running costs considerably, and run the pool from May to September for approximately £160 per month. The costs being incurred with Hampshire could be slashed.

A:The maintenance contract with HCCcovers all eventualities – some years, we have benefitted from it considerably, other years we have not. Governors review these contracts (SLAs) regularly. There is a trade-off between the management time potentially involved in sorting these issues out solely at school level, versus the economies of scale and cost that come with the HCC contract. HCC also take on the liability through the contract.

Q: Do FOLS have a view on this?

A: FOLS would not want their fund-raising to be plundered for the pool.

Conclusions

A core group of people is needed to form a committee to take this forward. This committee can them draw on the expertise of others as needed.

The following people volunteered to form a group:

Paul Savage (Link Governor)Angharad Snow

Julian ElsdenJenny Machin

Vicky GardnerMatt Wigginton

Alex KershawRupert Howell

Next Steps

It was agreed that a feasibility exercise should take place over the next 4 – 6 weeks, directed and coordinated by the group, drawing on the information gathered to date. The group will need to report back via the OAC to inform the GB meeting on 24 May 2018.

James thanked all those parents for their time and commitment.

The meeting concluded at 9.15 pm.