UPDATE ON WORK IN RELATION TO LOW UTILISATION SCHOOLS.
1. Purpose of Report
The purpose of this report is to provide Members with a report on progress on work in relation to low utilisation schools as agreed at Committee on 17 March 2016.
2. Recommendations
Members are asked to note:-
2.1 the engagement by Officers with low utilisation schools as detailed at 3.5.;
2.2 the updated list of low utilisation schools updated from census October 2016 as
detailed in the Appendix; and
2.3 agree to receive a report back to this Committee in 2018 to provide an update
progress as set out in 3.9.
3. Considerations
3.1 The Council adopted the Small School Review Guidelines in June 2002, which were applied to schools which met an agreed set of criteria this was developed with the Rural Schools Review 2009. Scottish Government then brought out legislation through the Statutory Consultation (Scotland) Act in 2010 which provided detail regarding requirements and good practice when a Local Authority wished to change a stage of education. The 2010 Act was further augmented with the Children and Young People’s (Scotland) Act 2014.
3.2 Officers have over the past three years engaged with schools which have less than 10 pupils in support of the Rural School Review policy. This has resulted in engagement with four schools; three progressed to closure in July 2016.
3.3 The Education Committee agreed on the 17 March 2016 that Officers should engage with schools with under 50% utilisation.
3.4 This engagement process with a range of users including staff, parents and local communities is based on following discussion with the aim to improve the utilisation of these schools Do nothing, Rationalisation, Use as a Community Hub, Review of viable Catchments, Review of Schools Partnership and Impact of Planning and Development or other suggestions as detailed by the user groups and specific locale. As each school reflects a unique set of data around these option themes, discussions are on a case by case basis, reflective of the specific school community.
3.5 From this point the team have undertaken the following engagement with the schools –
3.5.1 2015/16 – Engagement
Drochduil, Mouswald and St Peters – closed July 2016 – the team have engaged with staff to undertake lessons learnt to inform future engagement approaches. All the pupils have settled in well to their new schools and the properties are being progressed for alternative use.
3.5.2 2016/17 - Engagement
Hightae – the team have continued to engage with the parent council. The school has moved from a school roll of 14 to 18 but still remains on the low utilisation list.
3.5.3 Kirkinner - Officers have engaged with elected members, school and parent Council. The school, which is partnered with Port William Primary School, is over 100 years old with three classrooms and other associated spaces. The capacity of the school is 68, pupil numbers have fluctuated over the last year, dropping as low as 11 with the current role at 17 pupils. The school has 17 pupils who choose to go to other schools and has 4 placement requests, with the future projections showing no significant increase. There is no early learning and childcare (ELC) provision, though there is a recently established toddler group. Within the catchment area the local development plan indicates the potential for 56 units, which could translate to around 18 children from birth up to 18.
3.5.4 Garlieston – Officers have engaged with elected members, Community Council, school and parent Council. The school, which is partnered with Whithorn Primary school, is over 100 years old with three classrooms and other associated spaces. The capacity of the school is 75; pupil numbers for the current role is 15. The school has 9 pupils who choose to go to other schools and has no placement requests, with the future projections showing a slight increase in numbers by 2021/22. There is no early learning and childcare (ELC) provision within the school, though there is a recently established toddler group. Within the catchment area the local development plan indicates the potential for 14 units, which could translate to around 4 children from birth up to 18.
3.5.5 Caerlaverock – Officers have engaged with the Head Teacher, Teaching staff, Parent Council and local community in order to examine potential re-utilisation options. Caerlaverock Primary School is a partnership school with Brownhall Primary School and operates as part of the Dumfries High School cluster. The current school roll for Caerlaverock Primary School is 24 pupils as of December 2016. The capacity of the school is 97. The school has 18 pupils that choose to go to other schools and has 2 placement requests. There is no early learning and childcare (ELC) provision in the school, though there is an ambition to research and develop this area as a potential solution to the current low utilisation. Within the catchment area the local development plan indicated the potential for 58 units, which could home around 17 children from birth to 18. The current school roll for the Partnership schools of Brownhall Primary School is 67 as of December 2016. The combined total for both schools is 91 as of December 2016.
3.5.6 St Teresa’s - there has been ongoing engagement with the Head Teacher and staff, parents and Catholic Church. St Teresa’s RC Primary School currently operates as a Catholic Denominational School. The school is located in the Northwest of Dumfries and is located adjacent to major arterial routes of the A76 and A75 Dumfries ring road. The school has a capacity for 224 pupils. The school roll at census day in September 2016 is given as 44 pupils, 12 of which are Catholic (baptised). St Teresa’s is located to the Northwest of Dumfries 1.3 miles from the town centre of Dumfries. It is located 2.1 miles from St Andrew’s RC Primary School that also operates as a Catholic Denominational School within the town of Dumfries. The school is also located within 500m of a new 3-18 campus due for completion in summer 2018 however this will be non-denominational provision. As a Catholic Denominational school it has no specific catchment area. Parents of catholic pupils (baptised) are able to choose to send their child(ren) to either St Teresa’s or St Andrew’s.
3.5.7 Ae - Officers have engaged with the Head Teacher in order to establish a phased approach of speaking to staff, parents and local community/community council. Ae Primary School is a partnership school with Amisfield Primary School and operates as part of the Dumfries High School cluster. The current school roll for Ae Primary School is 10 pupils. The current school roll for Amisfield Primary School is 35 as of November 2016. The combined total for both schools is 45 as of November 2016. Ae School is situated 10 miles from the town of Dumfries, 5 miles from Amisfield. The school is in a settlement of 74 houses which would indicate a potential of circa 21 children from birth to 18. The projected demographics indicate no significant future demand and now Ae also falls within the additional review process for schools of 10 and under. The Projections for pupil intake until 2022 remain as 10 and under. There is no early learning and childcare (ELC) provision Ae Primary School. Early learning and childcare provision is zoned with Locharbriggs Primary ELC. Although there is a recently established toddler group with families from Ae and Amisfield hosted at Ae, during the school day.
3.5.8 Carsphairn and Kells – Officers have engaged with schools across Upper Stewartry as a result of difficulties in securing a Head Teacher. Officers have met with the cluster to share the information on the low utilisation aspect noting the school role of Carsphairn stands at 7, the nursery is currently in mothballed status and Kells current role is 29. Neither school are projected to increase in numbers.
3.5.9 Springfield – there have been two meetings with staff and the parent council and one meeting with the community council and local ward members. This school is 25 years old with only two class rooms. It sits in the community of Springfield within the wider Gretna area. It has 21 children and is clustered with Kirkpatrick Fleming. The role is not projected to increase significantly and it has had a history of losing children to Gretna Primary School. The community is well served by other facilities and there are no anticipated housing developments in the catchment.
3.6 The low utilisation table has been updated with the 2016 census – see attached Appendix – this has resulted in the following movement with schools with under 50% utilisation.
3.7 Moving off the list
Palnackie 38% to 52%
Hottsbridge 46% to 54%
New Abbey 50% to 53%
All generally stay with this movement for future years – using the placement request adjusted figures.
3.8 Moving onto the list
Sandhead 70% to 49%
Colvend 58% to 48%
Park 50% to 48%
Amisfield 60% to 47%
Brydekirk 51% to 44%
All other than Park stay on the list in future years– again using the adjusted placement request figures.
3.9 Officers will look to provide a further 12 month report in 2018.
4. Governance Assurance
This paper has been consulted and agreed by Senior Management Team – Education Services and Corporate Management Team.
5. Impact Assessment
An impact assessment to consider the approach to low utilisation schools has been undertaken and helped to inform the process to date. A copy of the Impact Assessment summary sheet is available at http://www.dumgal.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=17031&p=0
Author(s)
NAME / DESIGNATION / CONTACT DETAILSClaire Renton / Strategic Lead of Physical Learning Environments /
Approved by
NAME / DESIGNATIONColin Grant / Director of Children, Young People and Lifelong Learning
Appendices 1
Appendix 1 - Low Utilisation Table
Background papers
Education Committee, 20 January 2009, Rural School Provision
http://egenda.dumgal.gov.uk/aksdumgal/images/att14277.pdf
Click here for - Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 - Statutory Guidance
Click here for - Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014
Education Committee, 17 March 2016, Item 8 – Review of Guidance in Relation to Low Utilisation Schools
http://egenda.dumgal.gov.uk/aksdumgal/users/public/admin/kab12.pl?cmte=EDU&meet=64&arc=71