Proposal to expand MiddletonPrimary School from 420to 630 places
Frequently asked questions
- Why has MiddletonPrimary been proposed for expansion?
Nottingham, like many UK cities, has experienced a pressure of primary school places across the City. There is a national shortage of primary school places and this has been evident in Nottingham since 2010. This is due to an increase in the birth rate and an increase in people living and working in Nottingham. The Council has invested £41m in its school expansion programme, which will have created a total of over 4000additional school places, once all year groups are full.
Although the picture across the City is much improved, the Wollaton area still has a particular challenge and additional primary school places are required to meet the increased number of children requiring a school place in the local community. Middleton Primary School is a good school as rated by Ofsted,with significant waiting lists across the year groups. Expanding the school will support the key priority to providegood schools, close to home for every young person in Nottingham and to increase choice of places for every child. We encourage parents to use local schools where they can walk their children to school. This also contributes to improved attendance, family wellbeing and reduces the level of traffic in a local area.
There has been a significant increase in the number of applications in the local area. Middleton Primary admitted 10 extra children in September 2015 to accommodate the additional children requiring a school place in the immediate school catchment. The same scenario is occurring for September 2017 admissions. There iscurrently capacity to admit the extra catchment children in Reception. However, a longer term solution is needed and additional teaching, learning and hall space will be required to accommodate this sustained growth in pupil numbers. If the school does not expand, there will be insufficient space to accommodate the growth in the number ofapplications from families in the immediate catchment area.
- How and where will the expansion happen?
If the proposal is approved, the School will expand gradually, admitting 1 class / 30 extra childrenper academic year, until the capacity of the school reaches 630.
It is proposed to complete two ofthe new Key Stage 1 classrooms by September 2018. Initial design options have been considered and if the proposal is approved, the next stage would be to appoint a design team to consider and progress the plans.
- What is the purpose of consultation?
It is part of our statutory duty to consult on proposals of this nature and we also want to know the views of those affected by the proposal to expand the school.
Proposals could change and have been changed in the past due to comments or alternative ideas fed to us during consultation. It is genuine consultation and all views are welcomed and encouraged. We encourage the engagement of all affected stakeholders and suggestions raised during consultation have often helped to shape a proposal.
A consultation report is then produced and considered and a final decision will be made by the Council’s Executive Board, currently scheduled for September 2017.
- How will the expansion be funded?
This expansion will be funded by Nottingham City Council.
- Will the changes affect class sizes?
By law, class sizes in Key Stage 1 must remain at or below 30 pupils, with a single qualified teacher. Class sizes in Key Stage 2 are decided by the Headteacher and the governing body, but as the school will be expanding from Reception onwards, this will not impact on Key Stage 2 class sizes.
- Will my child’s education be affected if building work is being done to the school?
Building contractors are used to working closely with schools undergoing change to buildings. Major work is planned for school holidays wherever possible. In the past, when works have been carried out during school time the Council, builders and schools have worked closely together to ensure it is well managed and there is as little disruption as possible. It can also be interesting to pupils to build the project into their curriculum studies.
- How will the new building work, look and how many new classrooms will there be when it is complete?
There have already been some minor alterations to the school building, to assist with accommodating the additional children admitted in Sept ’15. The new building works will be developed in conjunction with the school. The early feasibility suggests creating a new foundation unit and two additional classrooms (which is the equivalent of 7 new classrooms), reconfiguring the existing foundation unit and extending the hall. Any new buildings would be designed to complement those that are already on the site.
- When will the building work be complete?
The anticipated completion date for the additional KS1 classes is September 2018. The anticipated completion date for the additional KS2 classes is September 2019.
- What impact will there be on traffic and how will this be managed?
We appreciate that some local residents and parents may have concerns about the impact of an expansion on the volume of traffic. Traffic related concerns are very often raised in relation to school expansion proposals. Therefore, we work closely with the Council’s Traffic & Safety team, local Councillors and other relevant colleagues to identify potential problems and possible solutions. The impact on traffic is also explored as part of the planning permission process. We encourage parents to use local schools and to walk their children to school whenever possible. As this expansion is required to meet the needs of children who are already living in the local community, we hope that many will be close enough to walk to school where possible.If children are not able to attend a local school, this actually adds to the traffic problems in transporting children further afield.
A review of the School’s Travel Plan will be crucial, to promote measures to address concerns and to consider how parents are encouraged and enabled to reduce vehicle usage. We welcome all feedback and suggested solutions from residents, parentsand other interested parties during the consultation process. A consultation drop-in meeting for local residents has also been arranged for 2nd May, between 3.30 and 5.30pm, to be held at the school.Officers from the School Organisation and Traffic & Safety teams will be attending to discuss any questions or concerns.
The school and local Councillors have already fought hard for the Harrow Road Community Centre car park to be available for use during school drop off and pick up times, to reduce the traffic on the local roads and to provide a safer drop off / pick up zone. However, this is not currently being used to its full potential, so further publicity is required to encourage parents/carers to take up this option.
As the pupil numbers will grow by 30 children per academic year, this growth will be more manageable and will allow time to learn from any travel plans implemented before the full expansion is felt in 7 years. Also, Middleton will be one of the last primary schools in the city to be expanded so we are able to learn from some of the other issues thathave affected other schools.
School management-related questions
- Will the expansion impact on my child’s access to facilities such as outdoor activities and ICT?
We shall reconsider the timetables and reorganise accordingly to ensure that all children access their entitlement to all subjects including ICT and outdoor provision.
The school has good facilities for outdoor activities and ICT, which will not be compromised. We do not envisage any impact on this and will be keeping our dedicated IT Suite. Additional ICT equipment will be purchased for any new classrooms.
- How will the dinner time be managed with more children?
Details are still to be finalised but we will be working very closely with the Council’s Catering Team to ensure that all children receive their lunch in a timely and efficient manner.
- What will the staffing ratios be?
Middleton Primary School sees staff as its most important resource. The existing staffing ratios willcontinue as the school grows. Additional staff will be recruited to manage the increasing pupil numbers. This will be on a gradual basis as pupil numbers grow.
- How will you maintain the standards and ethos at Middleton Primary?
The proposal to expand the school is only going forward for consultation because extensive considerations have been undertaken by the Governing Body and the school’s staff. Middleton achieves very good results and outcomes for the children who attend and has been rated as a “Good” school by OFSTED. In addition we receive very positive feedback about the warmth and friendliness of the school and approachability of staff in our annual surveys. It has therefore been an absolute priority for the Governing Body that expansion should not affect the culture and ethos of the school or the school’s ability to provide a high quality education to all its pupils. We are confident that the proposal we are now supporting will help to ensure this is the case.
Specifically we have put a great deal of thought into ensuring our proposal has:
-Sufficient usable outside space. Middleton benefits from relatively large school grounds but not all of it is usable all year round. Making use of space in the grounds which currently can’t be used for teaching and learning is a priority for the new build areas of the design. The addition of a Multi-Use Grass Area should also help us to make use of more of the school grounds all year round
-More break-out and small group teaching space. The school currently enjoys a number of areas where pupils can receive one to one and small group learning, we felt it was important that the amount of this space was increased so a larger pupil population can still benefit in the same way from these facilities.
-A larger school hall. Meeting together as a whole school was considered to be an important part of Middleton’s friendly culture and ethos. Enlarging the Hall will ensure this can still happen
-A dedicated Early Years/Foundation Stage (EYFS) Unit. The school is proud of its current EYFS provision and the way that teaching and learning is delivered to younger children throughout a free-flowing flexible space that blends indoor and outdoor environments. To deliver the same quality of education to a larger number of pupils it was considered that a dedicated new-build unit would be required. This is now built into the design
-A design that works for our teaching staff. The Teaching staff have considered the design options very carefully in order to shape a design where they believe they can offer the same or better standards of education to a larger pupil population
None of these aspects are required to be considered when planning a school expansion. The Governing Body has been working with the local authority for a number of months to argue the case for the inclusion of these items within the design and budget for the scheme and ensure that the quality of education can be maintained for all pupils.
Contact details for Lucy Juby Project Manager in the School Organisation team:
0115 87 65041
1