Consultation: Draft School Organisation Plan 2025 to 2030

Consultation closed: Sunday 10 November 2024
Consultation opened: Monday 23 September 2024

The new draft School Organisation Plan includes the following seven principles with further full detail on all the principles and proposed changes provided in the appendix (PDF):

Principle 1

The need to provide local schools for local children, ensuring a sense of community belonging and also promoting sustainable modes of travel.

There has been no change to the current principle proposed.

Principle 2

The need to create schools that are of sufficient size to be financially and educationally viable; please see the table in the appendix (PDF) for the minimum and maximum sizes required.

What has changed?

The initial reference to optimal school size has been removed as this relates to secondary schools with 6 classes in each year group, which is now considered at the smaller end of the scale. In addition, we are no longer looking to recommend that smaller sized schools may be preferable in areas of deprivation.

Many local authorities now are setting a minimum secondary school size at 8 classes per year group. However, the intention of these principles is to be a guide to decision-making and, in some circumstances, we would still consider different sized schools on a case-by-case basis.

There is a change to the maximum size for lower and primary schools: This recognises the evolution of planning for school places. Working towards having primary schools with 2 to 3 classes per year group enables us to secure more school places on fewer sites and for the schools to have greater cost advantages and flexibility in staffing to deliver a successful curriculum. In addition, primary schools of a larger size are more attractive to potential academy sponsors that we need to promote new schools.

We have removed reference to the research and evidence which claims that secondary schools tend to reach their peak performance when a headteacher has been leading the school for around 6 or 7 years, or that a headteacher with experience of leading more than 1 school is generally believed likely to be successful in a second or third school. This research is no longer available.

The previous plan noted that the Audit Commission takes the view that a sixth form of fewer than 160 students constitutes a small sixth form, which brings into question financial viability. However, we have no legal duty to provide sixth form places but do have the duty to ensure there is access to this provision. For new housing developments, a sixth form will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and we will help to support academy trusts that are looking to extend into sixth form provision, wherever possible.

What has been added?

There is evidence that pupil numbers of less than 1 class for each key stage can prove to be a contributory factor to poor school management due to related funding pressures limiting options for teaching staff.

Further information from the Department for Education on its delivery model has been included as rationale for minimum school sizes in the appendix (PDF).

We have added a section about surplus school places, which is designed to provide steps to address what is a national issue, due to the population boom of the 2000s baby boom and more recent decline in birth rates. It is also designed to provide schools with support and various options when pupil numbers are in decline. The main impact of surplus places on schools is the resulting reduction in school finances reducing the amount of money available to pay staff, purchase resources and meet pupil needs. The National Audit Office recommends maintaining five per cent surplus places across a planning area for operational sufficiency and to allow for parental choice.

Not all schools are affected equally by falling pupil numbers. In reality, popular schools remain full or close to full and this may mean that a large drop in numbers could significantly affect a small number of less popular schools. When schools are disproportionately affected by falling rolls, those schools are at risk of spiraling decline and possibly closure. This means we need to consider removing places across all schools to protect the coverage of schools across the area.

This can be done by:

• capping admissions in year – in exceptional circumstances, and following the closure of the normal admissions round, a ‘cap’ can be implemented. For example, where a three-form entry school is only operating two classes in a particular year group it is possible to cap the admission number for that year group at 60
• reductions in published admission numbers  - this needs to be done in advance of applications for places being made
• review of building use / capacity - whether some accommodation could be used for other purposes or even removed altogether. It could be appropriate to remove poorer assets where possible or reconfigure space to provide specialist provisions
• school organisation changes such as schools amalgamating or ultimately closing

Taking decisive action on removing surplus places can have a number of benefits such as:

• keeping schools financially viable
• reducing waste (keeping spend per pupil up)
• increasing the proportion of pupils in good or outstanding provision
• better targeting of capital resources
• improving the overall condition of the building stock and our school estate

Principle 3

The ability to support the expansion of local popular and successful schools or to link expanding schools with popular and successful schools.

What has changed?

We have removed a section about supporting the expansion of oversubscribed schools and academies in order to provide the Council with greater flexibility to meet pupil demand where necessary.  

It is not always possible to provide places exactly where parents want them, or feasible to expand a very oversubscribed school. Linked to the new information about surplus places in principle 2, we need to consider that school expansions due to oversubscription could create surplus places in other schools which could make them financially unviable and at risk of closure.

Our role in school place planning is to ensure there are enough places across Central Bedfordshire. Unfortunately, this cannot always mean that places are exactly where every parent wants them to be.

For new schools, all potential academy sponsors are required to submit a business case for the operation of a new school. However, we have changed what this entails because, through greater partnership working, we will be able to identify an academy’s vision, educational plan, Ofsted rating and its performance in terms of results and improvement.

Principle 4

The potential to further promote and support robust partnerships and learning communities.

What has changed?

Items about joint work with the Central Bedfordshire Teaching School Partnership (CBTSP) and the development of a strategy of school community engagement have been removed from the School Organisation Principles as they are covered by our Skills For All Strategy. These are not areas that can be addressed through planning of school places.

Principle 5 (formerly principle 7)

To seek opportunities to create inspirational learning environments for the school, and to maximise community use.

What has changed?

We have removed a requirement to assess the suitability of existing school buildings to ensure pre-existing deficiencies in provision can be considered, as it has been superseded by the principles in our Three-to-Two-Tier Programme, approved by our Executive in February 2022 (then called the Schools for the Future Programme), which stated that pre-existing deficiencies in provision and accommodation cannot be addressed as part of a capital project.

Principle 6 (formerly principle 8)

To promote the diversity of provision offered in Central Bedfordshire to increase opportunities for parental choice. 

What has changed?

A section about the three-tier status of most schools in Central Bedfordshire has been removed as a firmer commitment to a two-tier model of education has been included instead.

A section on the annual appraisal of the impact of the principles has been removed as there has been no annual appraisal of the original principles carried out. An Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) is completed as part of the consultation and approval of the Five-Year Plan and should be reviewed and repeated for the next cycle.

Principle 7 (formerly principle 9) 

To support vulnerable learners in area special schools and integrate appropriate Special Educational Needs (SEN) provision within mainstream schools. 

What has changed?

A section has been removed about continuing to maintain and support specialist provisions in some lower, middle and upper schools for children who require a more specialist approach to meeting their special educational needs. These have been removed from the School Organisation Plan principles because they are captured in our Specialist School Places Plan.

A section has been removed about supporting the establishment of alternative provision for pupils who are excluded or at risk of exclusion and for whom an alternative curriculum is more appropriate because this is also addressed in the Specialist School Places Plan. 

Removed principles

There are 2 principles from the previous plan that we are not proposing to include in the 2025 to 2030 plan. These are:

Former principle 5

The ambition to achieve a single phase of education 0 to 19 and reduce school transfer points. This principle has been removed because:

• of the lack of opportunities that exists to develop 0 to 19 in a single phase of education for school place planning
• the single phase of education would only apply to a select few in the primary school phase and many other children would still require a transfer at secondary school age as that school serves a wider community
• this principle could result in increased transport costs for children to a single location
• there is a lack of diversity and opportunity by having a large-scale provision in one academy trust and a risk to the ability to transfer a large school to another academy trust if deemed necessary due to a fall in standards
• we support greater partnership working between education establishments, but that isn’t bound by the physical environments of schools that these principles are relating to, which means that schools can work together and forge partnerships without having to be geographically close to each other

Former principle 6

The need to support the Raising of the Participation Age (RPA).

This principle has been removed as it is no longer a requirement for the School Organisation Plan to factor in as it is now the law that young people must stay in education (either at a school or college) until they are 18.

As part of this principle we also undertook to support the maintenance of a diverse range of post-16 provision, enabling students to choose between remaining at upper school, transferring to a further education college or taking advantage of vocational routes of study. This is now addressed through the Skills for All Strategy.

If you’d like to know more detail about these principles and how they’ve changed from the previous plan, there is further information provided in the appendix (PDF).