More school places… More primary school places in Maidenhead November 2011 Ben Wright, Education Planning Officer, RBWM

1. The need for primary school places locally More school places… Structure of presentation 2. Options for providing new primary places3. Brief overview of the proposals4. Some issues5. Expansion in Questions and discussion

Demand for places 30 places available in the 2011 Reception intake By 5 th September (i.e. including late applications): More school places… All Designated Area Applications: First preferences: Places offered: Waiting List: Oldfield primary…

Demand for places Demand for primary school places is going up More school places… Oldfield designated area… Resident Children Live births Places Available Year of intake into Reception (September)

Demand for places Demand for primary school places is going up More school places… Oldfield designated area… Resident Children Live births Places Available Year of intake into Reception (September) Kings Quarter – 40% unoccupied Other developments likely

Demand for places More primary school places are needed locally Expanding Oldfield would meet parental preferences More school places… Conclusion… More places are needed as quickly as possible

Options Expand on the current site? More school places… Options for more places… Site is too small to take 60 per year groupSite is in the flood plainCould result in congestion and traffic issues locallyNo way to ‘mitigate’ the impact of a larger building onsite The flood risk to neighbouring properties would increase

Options More school places… Options for more places… Expand another local school? Only Ellington Primary School has a large enough site… Expand on the current site? Some distance away Although a ‘Good’ school it is not preferred by local parents May well be needed for the St Mary’s Park development

Options More school places… Options for more places… Expand on the current site? Expand another local school? Open a brand new school in the locality? Currently a lengthy, complicated process No guarantee of the quality of provision at the end of it There remains a clear local demand for places at Oldfield

Options More school places… Options for more places… Expand on the current site? Expand another local school? Open a brand new school in the locality? Completely rebuild and expand Oldfield on a new site? Lack of local sites of a sufficient size Expensive, as it involves replacing existing buildings as well

Options More school places… Options for more places… Expand on the current site? Expand another local school? Open a brand new school in the locality? Completely rebuild and expand Oldfield on a new site?Expand Oldfield onto a second site? Means the school will have to operate over two, separate, sites

Options More school places… Options for more places… Expand on the current site? Expand another local school? Open a brand new school in the locality? Completely rebuild and expand Oldfield on a new site?Expand Oldfield onto a second site

Options The possibilities for a second site are very limited More school places… A second site? The Royal Borough only owns a relatively small number of sitesIn East Maidenhead, most of these are:Purchasing other sites of sufficient size could be very costlyFar too small (we need about 1.2 hectares) In the flood plain, which covers much of east Maidenhead

Options The possibilities for a second site are very limited More school places… A second site? The Royal Borough has considered and discounted:The Bray Road site (flood risks)The Moor (important public open space, flood risks)Reform Road (mostly leased to industrial firms)Green Lane (allotments, flood risks)Castle Hill (too far away, too small)

Options The possibilities for a second site are very limited More school places… A second site? The Royal Borough believes the following are possible:The site of the former Winbury School, Braywick Park ‘Braywick Meadows’, to the rear of Stafferton Lodge

Proposals Proposal A More school places… Three proposals 60 per year group Proposal BProposal C 60 per year group45 per year group+15 elsewhere Proposed size of Oldfield Primary School

Proposals Proposal A More school places… Three proposals Braywick Meadows Proposal BProposal C Winbury Proposed location of second site 60 per year group 45 per year group +15 elsewhere

Proposals Proposal A More school places… Three proposals New school Proposal BProposal C Expanded buildingRefurbishment Proposed accommodation on new site 60 per year group 45 per year group Braywick MeadowsWinbury Expand elsewhere

Proposals Proposal A More school places… Three proposals Proposal BProposal C Split each yr group 60 per year group 45 per year group Braywick MeadowsWinbury New schoolExpanded buildingRefurbishment Infant & Juniors OR split each yr groupOne headteacher, one governing body, one budget Proposed organisation of Oldfield Primary School

Proposals Proposal A More school places… Three proposals Proposal BProposal C 60 per year group 45 per year group Braywick MeadowsWinbury New schoolExpanded buildingRefurbishment Infant & Juniors/ Split each yr group Split each yr groupInfant & Juniors/ Split each yr group 1 HT, GB, Budget

Proposals A split-site school could be difficult for parents More school places… Some issues… Siblings could end up at two sites, making dropping off difficultThis could be managed by:Staggered start times for the two sites Breakfast/collection clubs Walking crocodiles from agreed pick-up points

Proposals The Braywick Meadows site is not suitable More school places… Some issues… Much of Braywick Park was formerly a landfill siteBorehole investigations of the main part of the site reveal:Much of it is ‘made-up’ ground – e.g. rubble, broken brick However, only slightly deeper foundations than usual needed ‘Remediation’ of the topsoil not necessary Borehole investigation of MTSC land is underway

Expansion in 2012 Shortage of places for 2012 has been highlighted More school places… A temporary solution… None of the proposals could be implemented in timeSo, the borough is proposing early expansion for 2012 Oldfield would take in 60 Reception children on its current siteFor Proposals A and B, this would happen in 2012 and in 2013For Proposal C or no permanent expansion; 2012 onlyThis would mean one or two modular classrooms on site

Expansion in 2012 More school places… A temporary solution…

Expansion in 2012 Application process for Reception 2012 underway More school places… A temporary solution… Parents may wish to reconsider school preferencesPreferences can be changed up until 16 th JanDecision on 2012 expansion to be made on 15 th DecAdmissions Dept should be writing to all parents

Responding Consultation closes on Friday 2 nd December 2012 More school places… We need your views! Online response out hard copy of response formAny questions, please call on

Questions More school places… Questions?