Proposal to provide additional primary school places Consultation September / October Striving for excellence

The need to increase places Legal duty to provide sufficient school places Demand has been rising since 2008/09 11 primary schools already permanently expanded + 4 new schools + temporary (bulge) classes Expecting higher demand to continue Permanent expansion better than continued temporary (bulge) classes

Highfield School In 2008/9 Highfield took a bulge class to accommodate an increase in pupil applications In 2011/12 Highfield took a second bulge class In 2012/13 Hazelwood took a bulge class Pupil projections show that an additional 30 places are required in this area In 2011 Ofsted rated teaching and learning and pupil attainment at Highfield as “good”

The proposal The proposal is to expand the school by 30 places a year, from 60 to 90 This means that 3 classes of 30 children would begin in Reception each year The change would take effect from September 2013

What the proposal would mean Pupils already at the school: would continue at the school Future pupils: A larger number of pupils would join the school from 2013/14 and the overall number of pupils would grow over time and children progress through the Year groups Staff: all existing staff continue to be employed and more staff would be recruited as the school grows

Impact on accommodation Architects have visited the school and are discussing the site and accommodation with the head teacher Additional accommodation is required and discussion on design are at an early stage The Council is committed to: -High quality, fit for purpose accommodation -Minimising disruption for school and residents -Speedy delivery

Impact on accommodation Residents, parents and other stakeholders will have an opportunity to comment on the individual proposals when planning permission is sought – probably November / December

Have your say Consultation until 31 October or paper questionnaire (return to the school or Civic Centre)

Next steps Continue – publish Statutory Notice (probably November / December), decision in January (conditional upon planning permission being granted) Stop Propose something different – steps depend on the new proposal

Questions and comments