Plans for a new school in the east of the city have been dealt a blow today as the city council announced it is withdrawing its support in the light of offers from other schools to expand.
The University of Brighton, which was planning to sponsor the new free school or academy, says it will now reconsider its proposals in the light of the change of heart from Brighton and Hove City Council.
The announcement came as planned details of school admissions for 2019 were published, which show that no plans to secondary school admissions are now planned for that year either – and planned reductions in intake at Hertford Infant and Benfield Primary have also been scrapped.
The schools which have offered to permanently expand are Blatchington Mill, Varndean School and Patcham High. The offer from Varndean was made after the consultation meetings, and will be considered separately.
The chair of the children, young people and skills committee, Councillor Dan Chapman, said: “I’d like to thank the hundreds of residents, parents, teachers and governors who took part in the consultation, which has helped the cross-party group make its recommendations.
“The position we are in now with secondary school admissions has changed from when we agreed the consultation in September 2017.
“Since mid-September, there is new information with pupil projections and Blatchington Mill has permanently expanded by one form of entry. Patcham High and Varndean plan to permanently expand as well. Dorothy Stringer has indicated its willingness to take extra pupils on a temporary basis.
“In many ways the situation is better now than three months ago, but it’s not perfect. I welcome the willingness of Dorothy Stringer and Varndean to take extra pupils, but I am also aware that even with the additional places they won’t be able to ‘catch’ all the pupils in their area.
“With all this in mind, in the circumstance we are now facing, I believe that the benefits of leaving the catchment areas as they are outweigh the possible benefits of the changes that were proposed.
“It is clear that these changes and proposals would have a very significant impact on the planned University of Brighton Academies Trust free school at the Brighton General Hospital site.
“We have a duty to take a city-wide view on school admissions.
“There are a number of newly developed factors we must now consider. These are the reduction in the number of children entering our secondary schools over the next few years as shown in the new school census data, the increase in pupil admissions numbers at Blatchington Mill, and the proposed increases at three of our other oversubscribed schools.
“Taking these changes in circumstances into consideration our administration believes that the new free school, as proposed in 2015, is no longer in the best interests of the city as a whole.
“We have therefore advised the University of Brighton Academies Trust that we have withdrawn the in-principle support for the new school.
“Our withdrawal of support is a recognition of the changed circumstances in the city, and not in any way a reflection on the excellent educational services the University of Brighton Academies Trust provides.
“I would like to thank the University of Brighton Academies Trust for stepping in to make the offer to sponsor the new school, and for all the work they have done with us on this project.”
A spokesman for the University of Brighton said: “The University of Brighton, through its Academies Trust, was invited by Brighton and Hove City Council to act as sponsor for the new proposed free school in the city back in 2015.
“The university did so in good faith and we have made good progress in developing plans for a school with strong links to the local community in the centre-east of the city and a curriculum that builds on the strengths of local primary schools.
“We are aware that new demographic data and the proposal to expand spaces at existing secondary schools in the city have now raised questions over the demand for a new school, and we note that the council has indicated that it no longer wishes to support the new secondary school.
“The final decision regarding the opening of the new school rests with the Department for Education, and we shall be liaising with colleagues at the council and DfE over the coming days and weeks.”
The chair of the Brighton and Hove Secondary Headteachers Group is Dorothy Stringer head Richard Bradford. He said: “We welcome the council’s willingness to take on board the feedback we have given them about school places, and their flexibility in responding to a rapidly changing situation.
“We would also like to acknowledge the sensitivity and partnership spirit with which the University of Brighton has worked on their free school project, and to thank them for all their work on this.
“However, given the circumstances the city now faces we agree with the view that there is no longer a need for a new secondary school in the city.
“We are committed to working in partnership with the council to deliver new school places, and to ensuring the long-term sustainability of all the city’s secondary schools.”
The decision not to change secondary admissions arrangements for next year has been welcomed by West Hove councillors, who worked with parents in their ward affected by the proposed new temporary catchments.
Cllr Robert Nemeth said: “Cllr Garry Peltzer Dunn and I have fought tirelessly on behalf of our residents to defeat what we have seen from the outset as an unfair deal for the children and parents of West Hove.
“Children should be able to walk to school where possible. Children should be kept with their friends if possible. And parents should have choice where they send their children if possible.
“Each of these was clearly possible from day one yet the Labour administration continued regardless, with complete disregard again for the people of Hove.
“Only one resident that I met agreed with the proposal and that was a council employee with children at a private school. Hundreds of others were against and expressed this in the most forceful terms. Whilst upset that residents had several months of stress, I am delighted with the end result for our area.”
Parent Kirsten Cheesman said: “On behalf of my children, their friends and all other West Hove families, I am absolutely delighted with the outcome of the secondary school catchment area consultation.
“Not making any changes to the existing catchment areas is the right decision and the most sensible taking account of the strength of community feeling and the increase in capacity for pupil numbers at Blatchington Mill, Varndean and Dorothy Stringer. It demonstrates a joined-up approach which is mutually beneficial to all concerned.”
The school admission arrangements for September 2019 will be considered by Brighton and Hove City Council’s children, young people and skills committee next Monday 15 January. This follows a six-week consultation held late last year.
Councillors will consider a report on the responses to the consultation carried out during October and November on proposals for changes at both primary and secondary level for September 2019.
After considering the responses to the consultation from residents, teachers and governors it is recommended that proposed reductions in admissions numbers should not go ahead for Hertford Infant and Benfield Primary schools.
It is recommended that proposed changes to reduce admission numbers by 30 at West Hove Infant (Connaught Road site), Moulsecoomb Primary and Coombe Road Primary schools should go ahead.
With regards to secondary school catchment areas the recommendation is to make no changes.
Since the agreement to consult on changes to catchment areas last September, the cross party group that oversees admission arrangements has considered the feedback provided through the consultation as well as new information becoming available and new offers being made by the city’s secondary schools.
The recommendation was largely informed by the following:
- A summary of the responses to the consultation, which showed a majority of respondents to be against the proposed changes to catchment areas
- New annual pupil number projections based on data gathered in October 2017 point to a smaller rise in pupil numbers city-wide over the next few years than was indicated by the projections from October 2016 that informed the recent consultation
- Blatchington Mill is permanently increasing its intake by one form of entry as of September 2018
- Varndean has confirmed to the council that it wishes to permanently increase its admissions numbers by an extra 30 pupils per year
- Patcham High has confirmed to the council that it wishes to permanently increase its admissions numbers by an extra 10 pupils per year as of September 2019
- Dorothy Stringer has confirmed to the council that it is willing to provide 30 additional places in September 2019 and 2020 on a temporary basis.
- The report follows the recommendation of the working group that the additional places outlined at Dorothy Stringer and Patcham should be agreed, and that the current catchment areas should remain unchanged in 2019.
The request from Varndean for a permanent increase in its admissions numbers was made after the most recent meeting of the working group. They had previously expressed a willingness to expand on a temporary basis. The recommendation in the report is to agree the temporary expansion. The request for a permanent expansion will be considered separately.
There has always been an eddy and flow in these school-places figures. Does it look as if there is
a current trend for parents to Hove westwards, into Hove? As well as Patcham. These places provide houses with good gardens.
Parents were not going to wait these three years for a school at the General Hospital site (which had been previously agreed). After all, children grow up quickly.
The fundamental problem is that there isn’t a lack of capacity. There are plenty of places at BACA and Longhill – it’s just that the anxious, middle class parents don’t want to send their kids there, so have triangulated and framed the issue as one of capacity. It’s hard to make a strong case for a massive capital project like a new school if there isn’t in fact an underlying lack of capacity. The real issue is of course social class, and the authorities are terrified of facing down the clicktivist types, who would prefer their kids to go to school with the offspring of graphic designers and social workers rather than a guy who set up a roofing company.
On top of this you had a cynical public sector stitch up with all the existing local authority schools closing ranks to squeeze out the new school. Clearly the likes of Stringer were terrified at the prospect of a dynamic new school that might tempt away the better staff with higher pay, and lure away the more engaged parents with better facilities, and a fresh approach. As school funding is linked to pupil numbers, the old schools feared that they could decline at the expense of the new school and decided to knife the new school in the back.