Programme update - November 8, 2023
An announcement to all parents from Councillor Hayley Whitaker
In June 2023, Central Bedfordshire Council’s new administration paused work on the Schools for the Future three to two-tier transition programme for some areas to ensure the plans are affordable and deliverable. We committed to updating you in the autumn, so I want to inform you of the work we have been doing and what this means.
We remain totally committed to:
- supporting all three-tier schools across Central Bedfordshire to transition to the established Primary and Secondary school (two-tier) model
- investing in school maintenance
- providing more school places where needed
- creating specialist provision for children with Special Educational Needs
The Council is investing £140m in this work over the next few years.
We have taken a thorough look at the two-tier and new school place plans against the budget, while considering how many school-age children we have in Central Bedfordshire in the coming years.
You may be aware that birth rates are decreasing across the country, with the impact now being seen from the pandemic, while many residents are also tightening their belts and paying more for their bills. We currently forecast our demand for school places for a rolling five-year period, and this will continue to be updated on an annual basis.
Our plans need to reflect these changes. In light of the new forecast data and budget constraints, we have made some decisions and I have set out here what these are:
Biggleswade
The changes agreed for schools in the Biggleswade area remain unaffected and these schools will continue to transition to Primary and Secondary Schools ahead of the September 2024 academic year. Work has already begun on these schools with contractors being appointed and designs for the physical changes commencing.
We will continue to share updates as these works progress.
Cranfield
The planned transition to a two-tier model in this area is now proposed to be re-phased to take place by September 2026 rather than September 2025, as previously planned. Delaying this change for a year will be more fiscally sensible and help ease the financial pressures across wider Council funding by several million pounds.
Please be assured that the Council remains committed to this two-tier change, and we will be continuing to work with our schools in the Cranfield and surrounding areas to become Primary and Secondary Schools ready for the 2026 academic year. We are also continuing to work with Bedford Borough Council and the Chiltern Learning Trust to ensure that we have school places for all children entering year 5 in September 2025, some of whom will continue the current transition pathway into Marston Vale Middle School as it undergoes its phased transition to become Stewartby Primary School over the coming years.
Houghton Regis
Since our last update, the brand new Houstone School building has now opened, serving Houghton Regis. A video of the new school can be found here.
We also have plans for a new school to serve the emerging Bidwell West development area of Houghton Regis and whilst we remain committed to delivering education in our new development areas, our current pupil forecasts support the development of this school at a later date, therefore, this will not take place by September 2025.
We will continue to monitor the demand for school places in this area and the timing of the new school will start in line with forecast demand for school places. At this stage, we are not experiencing pressures for school spaces but we do acknowledge that some year groups in specific schools in this area are popular, and this has resulted in siblings not securing spaces at the same schools. We will continue to review admissions criteria to consider ways to improve this situation.
Shefford and Stotfold
In the Shefford and Stotfold area, we have been considering the range of data that is available to us including current children living in the area as well as forecasts for new children being born and those moving into the area in the future. This reflects what we know to be the national picture with a decrease in birth rates and overall less emerging demand.
Changes like this have meant that the number of children we expect to need school places in the short to medium term has reduced. The previous model is no longer appropriate because it would create too many school places, which could have a negative impact on children’s education and place unnecessary pressure on school operations. This is because school funding is linked to the number of children being taught each year at that school.
Given the size of some of our smaller, rural schools, there are also constraints which mean at least two lower schools could not expand into a Primary School teaching the same number of children each year (as previously planned).
We therefore need to continue to work with school leaders to develop a new plan meaning that these schools will not transition by September 2025. Whilst we recognise this is frustrating and unsettling for parents who want to plan their child’s school journey, please be assured that this is the right course of action to avoid longer-term uncertainty for school's futures. This is because we can plan for children that have already been born or are in school now, while ensuring that our plans can be flexible to meet longer-term school place needs, for instance, if birth rates increase in the future.
An example of this has been our completion of a brand-new secondary school in Houghton Regis called Houstone School, which was designed in such a way that allowed us to build for the current demand for school places, while also planning for a future expansion to enable the school to grow at the right time to welcome children from the emerging housing developments as they move into the area.
We’ve also been taking a detailed look at the plan for Campton Academy. The relocation of Campton Academy will not take place as planned in September 2024, as there is no pressure for school places. The future relocation and planned expansion of Campton Academy will need to be considered as part of the wider two-tier planning for the Shefford and Stotfold to provide the best solution for our children’s education.
At this stage, we are not experiencing pressures for school spaces but we do acknowledge that some year groups in specific schools in this area are popular, and this has resulted in siblings not securing spaces at the same schools. We will continue to review admissions criteria to consider ways to improve this situation.
Three-tier schools in other areas
In line with our commitment to transition to a primary and secondary school model across Central Bedfordshire, we will also engage earlier with schools in the areas that have yet to begin the process: Harlington; Ampthill and Flitwick, and Leighton-Linslade.
This early engagement will help us to understand what will be needed to enable a smooth transition in the future and to work with the school leaders to plan their journeys effectively. It will also help us to prioritise the transition programme based on local insights.
Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)
We are also committed to improving our provision for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and a priority is our work to increase specialist school places, which remains unaffected.
If you would like to know more about the investment we are making in our SEND school places, you can see our Specialist Place Plan, which was recently discussed at the Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
Young people competition
We have also listened to schools and parents who feel that the Schools for the Future programme has changed from the aims originally set out in 2018. We have taken this onboard, and we will be working to redefine the work we do, whilst still maintaining the core focus of changing lower, middle and upper schools in Central Bedfordshire to either primary or secondary, to improve outcomes for our children.
As part of this, we want to involve young people in the work that we do and so we are launching an art competition for young people to help us understand what education means to them. The themes that emerge from this competition will help us have a better understanding of what’s important to our children and young people.
Pupils from all schools in Central Bedfordshire can take part.
In return for schools assisting us in the running of this competition, the school whose student has submitted the winning illustration will be provided with 7 days of construction-related activities including careers talks, site visits, and shadowing for our young adults, and for our younger children, age-appropriate construction activities including a ‘digger day’ and bug hotel session hosted and delivered by our leading contractors and consultants.
We anticipate 3 winning categories – primary, secondary, and SEND education - with entries coming from students in those cohorts across our schools (including those operating in a three-tier setup) and will work with the winning schools to schedule these activities towards the end of the current academic year.
We recognise that some schools and parents have experienced repeated setbacks and we thank you for your patience as we work to provide more clarity on the changes to your local schools.
Kind regards,
Councillor Hayley Whitaker
Executive Member
Programme update - June 30, 2023
An announcement to all parents from Councillor Hayley Whitaker
As a new administration, we have pledged to be as open and honest as possible, so we felt it was important to share this news at the earliest opportunity that we are pausing Schools for the Future.
The SFF programme has always focused on the move towards a two-tier educational system to improve educational outcomes for all children and young people. Alongside this, the programme included ambitious plans to create additional school capacity in line with the housing growth set out in the Local Plan.
When the new administration took over at Central Bedfordshire Council, we became aware that while work pushed ahead with the programme, the full financial cost to the Council was not known and has not been included in the current Council budget calculations.
The current best estimate for delivery of the current Schools for the Future programme is a total of c£300 million. Of this total cost, only £48.5m has been included in the Council’s four-year medium-term financial plan, or budget, and there are currently no plans in place for how the total cost of the programme is to be funded.
As a new administration, it would be wrong for us to continue with the current plans for the Schools for the Future programme that are not budgeted for without taking the time to thoroughly consider and plan for such a significant spend over the coming years.
We want to reassure you that we remain totally committed to the transition from a three to two-tier education system but need to develop a budget to deliver this programme of work. For most areas of Central Bedfordshire, this doesn’t bring any change to the status of your school. Unfortunately, the area that is most significantly affected by this decision is Shefford and Stotfold. This is a large area with 19 schools, and we need to review the approach.
Below I have clarified the status of different clusters or schools at this stage:
Woburn Sands and surrounding area
There will be no change to the plans in the Woburn Sands area. Fulbrook, and Swallowfield plans continue.
Further consultation is still required on the future of Husborne Crawley, Ridgmont, Aspley Guise and Woburn lower. This remains the case.
Biggleswade
The current proposals for schools in the Biggleswade area will continue as planned.
Cranfield
The consulted proposals will proceed to Executive on 1 August for a recommendation to be made.
Shefford & Stotfold
Six schools in phase 1 changed to two-tier in 2021. For the remaining schools in phase 2, viability studies have concluded, and a review is required before we proceed with a change to two-tier. The previous transition date of September 2025 is unlikely to be achievable for phase 2 schools.
All other clusters
There are no current plans in place to change the remaining areas of Central Bedfordshire that have a three-tier system.
We will be taking the next few months to understand the full financial cost of the programme and develop a strategy to ensure future plans are affordable in the Council’s budget (medium-term financial plan).
I would also like to take this time to reaffirm our commitment to the Council’s wider investment in our school estate. The Council is investing over £140 million in maintaining school buildings, adding more school places, building new schools, and moving some schools to two-tier over the next four years (this includes the £48.5 million mentioned above). Investment will continue but we need to understand the full financial cost of the proposed two-tier programme that is not currently in the Council’s budget and ensure future plans are affordable.
The brand new Houstone School in Houghton Regis is close to opening, the planned improvements to Sandy Secondary School will continue to be delivered, and our New School Places programme will also continue to ensure that we have sufficient pupil places in Central Bedfordshire.
We are also committed to improving our provision for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), and our work to increase specialist school places at pace remains a priority for us and is unaffected by today’s decision.
We recognise that some schools and parents have already experienced setbacks with the Schools for the Future Programme, and this announcement will cause further uncertainty. This is not a decision we have taken lightly, but it is the responsible thing to do.
We will continue to support your school on its journey towards becoming two-tier, or as plans emerge, and you can always find the latest status of your school within the relevant page on our Plans for Change page.
We will update you again in the autumn, it is our intention to be in a position to set out how the programme will move forward by then. If you have any queries, please contact your school in the first instance.
Kind regards,
Councillor Hayley Whitaker
Executive Member for Families, Education and Children
Programme update - February 2022
Where we are now
On 8 February, 2022, Central Bedfordshire Council’s Executive Committee approved changes to the principles and policies of the Schools for the Future programme. This was after the proposals were considered by the authority’s Children Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 25 January, 2022.
These new principles and policies include:
- support for a target to improve learning outcomes to above the national average at Key Stage 2, Key Stage 4 and Post-16
- consistent, clear and honest communications via a single, agreed message to stakeholders
- the council no longer making initial proposals for changes to academies, as we are not the key decision-maker. We will now welcome two-tier proposals from Academy Trusts, which are supported by the DfE
- proposals for primary/secondary conversion will be matched against Central Bedfordshire Council-validated pupil place requirements
- setting out clear value for money principles in investing any capital funds into small schools
- Schools for the Future capital investment will not support early years or post-16 proposals
- proposals to improve and create SEND places will continue, but SEND investment will be a parallel programme led by Children’s Services and not directly managed by the Schools for the Future programme
- Schools for the Future funds will not be available to improve existing school accommodation. Additional accommodation will be provided as stand-alone new build blocks, unless site constraints dictate extensions/alterations are required
- a new Design Principles Policy that sets out what can fairly and equitably be funded across the schools still in the three-tier system
- all building improvement works will be funded by Central Bedfordshire Council and managed by Central Bedfordshire Council and its contractors
- a new six-point criteria, which the council will consider all conversion proposals against
- comprehensive feasibility studies will inform public consultations on proposed changes
These changes are aimed at providing greater clarity for schools and parents and support a fair and equitable approach across the whole of Central Bedfordshire.
They were made in response to Central Bedfordshire Council adopting its Local Plan in July 2021. This was a key milestone which created the opportunity to reconfirm the school place provision required.
Feedback from schools involved in the programme also highlighted that schools would welcome more transparency and clarity about the parameters of the programme.
The Schools for the Future programme remains an ambitious programme of work taking place to raise educational standards through the provision of places required across Central Bedfordshire in line with the Local Plan. Part of this is the move to the two-tier model of education and is key to improving our education offer and in attracting and retaining the best teachers.
The objectives of the programme remain to:
- improve educational outcomes at all Key Stages
- ensure sufficient places (appropriately located) to best meet demand from housing growth
- shape the future educational landscape - to provide clear educational pathways and reduce the number of transitions
- deliver best value – to ensure viability
- facilitate more school-based SEND (Special Educational Needs & Disability) provision
What happens next?
Central Bedfordshire Council will now invite all Governing Bodies and Trusts to consider and hopefully support these proposals.
The Council is now working towards publishing an outline phasing plan for the new primary/secondary system in each area, with the aim of giving all schools and parents the confidence that Schools for the Future will benefit all pupils in all the schools now looking forward to the new primary/secondary system.
This phasing plan will be published on this website, and we will work to communicate this through schools.
Where can I find out more about the Schools for the Future programme?
This website is the main source for all the latest information about schools in the programme. New information about these policies and principles will be published on this website, while the latest information about schools in a particular area will be published on this website within the relevant local area page when it is available.