Agenda item

Report of Portfolio Holder for Business, Education and Skills

The Portfolio Holder for Business, Education and Skills introduced the report on the proposed expansion of Glade Hill Primary School.

Glade Hill Primary School is an OFSTED rated ‘Good’ school.  A six week consultation took place with parents/carers. staff, governors, Councillors, local residents and citizens in March and April to expand the capacity of the school from 210 to 420 places.

RESOLVED to approve the expansion of Glade Hill Primary School from a 210 place school to a 420 place school, from 1 September 2017.

Reasons for decision

Although the city-wide picture for primary place provision is greatly improved, place pressures were still apparent in some areas, Bestwood being one of them. There has been an upward trend of pupil growth in this area and the number of children requiring a school place in the area will exceed the number of places available, if additional provision is not secured.

There will be 60 pupils in each year group instead of 30 and the school will grow by one class per year (30 pupils) over a seven year period, until the school is full.

Glade Hill Primary admitted an additional ‘bulge’ class of children in September 2016, over and above their normal Published Admission Number (PAN) and the school are helpfully admitting a further bulge year this September 2017. For the previous two years, another local school in the area (Westglade Primary) also admitted temporary bulge years. There is a sustained need for additional places in the area, therefore, a longer term solution was needed.

One of the 5 key objectives of the Council Plan 2015-19 is to ensure that every child in Nottingham is taught in a school that is judged good or outstanding by Ofsted. The proposal to expand Glade Hill Primary School also supports the priority of access to a good school close to home for every young person in Nottingham, and to meet parental preferences of places for every child at a local primary school.

Parents/carers quite rightly expect their children to be offered a local school place and the case for expanding a school which delivers a quality provision in an area where there are insufficient school places is a strong one.

Glade Hill Primary is located on a large site and the required building work can be easily accommodated. Nine years ago, the school was at the higher capacity, therefore with some alterations, some internal space can be reconfigured back into classrooms. From September 2017, additional teaching and learning space will be required to accommodate the growth in pupil numbers. The initial estimated date of completion for Key Stage One is September 2018 and for Key Stage Two, is August 2019, but this is subject to the completion of full feasibility and design works. The build will be funded by Basic Need funding allocated to the LA by Central Government, for expanding primary place provision. At this stage, it is estimated that the expansion of Glade Hill Primary School will cost £1.8m.

The school leadership team and the governing body are fully committed in their support for the proposal to expand the school. Successful initial feasibility investigations and a full and thorough consultation process with all stakeholders have been undertaken. The number of respondents in support of the proposal to expand the school exceeded the number against. No representations were made during the Statutory Notice stage. The full consultation results and summary of responses are included at Appendix A of the report.

Other options considered

The following other options were considered, but not recommended:

- Add a further bulge year at Glade Hill Primary. This was not a favourable option as it would not address the sustained pupil growth in the area.

- Other local schools were also considered for expansion (Westglade

and Henry Whipple). Glade Hill was considered the preferred option for the reasons stated in the report.

- Do nothing – this was not a favourable option as additional school places were required in the area. Sustained growth in pupil numbers requires a longer term solution to meet the needs of this community by providing a good school close to home.

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