Approval for changes to Potton schools and new plan to be developed for Biggleswade schools
Friday, 11 February 2022
Our Executive committee has agreed a number of actions that aim to improve education in the Biggleswade area.
At its meeting this week, our Executive committee authorised a statutory consultation for the closure of Potton Middle School and for Potton Lower School to become a primary school. It also agreed to develop a new plan for schools in the Biggleswade area to transition to a two-tier system of education.
Moving to the primary and secondary model of education is part of the Schools for the Future programme, which is an ambitious, long-term programme to raise education standards in Central Bedfordshire by ensuring the area has the right schools, in the right places, delivering the best education.
The decision by our Executive committee follows the outcome of a public consultation in summer last year, which proposed a number of changes for schools across the area, including that all existing lower schools and Biggleswade Academy would become primary schools, while a new primary and secondary school would be built.
It also proposed that Edward Peake CofE VC Middle School and Lawnside Academy would relocate, plus three different options for Wrestlingworth CofE VC Lower School and Dunton CofE VC Lower School, including amalgamation, and that there would be one sixth form open to pupils of Stratton Upper and Edward Peake.
The consultation feedback showed strong support (96%) for the long-term plan, and strong support (87%) for the schools to work together to co-ordinate change. There were, however, mixed levels of support for individual school proposals.
For Potton Middle School in particular, there has been a significant decrease in pupil numbers in years 7 and 8. This is due to pupils increasingly accessing schools in neighbouring towns and Cambridgeshire in recent years, which impacts on the educational and financial viability of the school.
Therefore, councillors approved a move to a statutory consultation for the closure of the middle school and to change the age range of Potton Lower School, so it becomes a primary school in September 2023. The new primary school would utilise the buildings and infrastructure of both school sites. The consultation is expected to begin in March for a period of four weeks.
Councillors also agreed that plans for the other schools in the Biggleswade area now need to be reviewed in greater detail against all available information, including forecast growth, consultation responses, feasibility studies and viability of proposals against the budget. This is in line with the Council approving changes to the policies and principles of the Schools for the Future programme, which is aimed at providing greater clarity for schools and parents.
Councillor Sue Clark, our Executive Member for Families, Education and Children, said:
Since consulting with families and residents, we have had the opportunity to reconfirm the school place provision required in the Biggleswade area.
We have also listened to the feedback from the community and so, in response to this, we have committed to developing a new model and timescale for the schools in Biggleswade to transition to primary and secondary schools. This will take into account a revised pupil growth forecast, the outcome of the consultation and indicative budgets.
We are progressing with proposals for the two schools in Potton, as this addresses the urgent need to resolve the educational and financial viability of Potton Middle School.