Decision details

Background:

This report provided details of the formal objections relating to theStatutory Notice proposing to close St. John’s Church of England Voluntary Controlled Infant School from 31 August 2010.  The Cabinet originally considered a report on the formal objections on 15 December 2009. However, it agreed to instruct officers to reconsider the ratio of denominational places taking into account the Cabinet decision on St. Nicholas Church of England Voluntary Controlled Infant School and All Faiths Children’s Community School (decision no. 205/2009), and that officers publish a new notice and proposal taking this into account.

The new Statutory Notice and full proposals were subsequently published on 11 January 2010 and the deadline for representations ended on 21 February 2010. The Council received 15 formal objections to the content of the first Statutory Notice in which the Council proposed to close St. John’s CEVC School, a further 65 responses were sent to the Church of England Diocese of Rochester Board of Education, which were also passed onto Medway Council. A further 20 formal objections were received in response to the second Statutory Notice, including a formal objection from the Church of England Diocese of Rochester Board of Education. The majority of objections received had been from parents with children who currently attend the school. Responses were also received from the head teacher of the school and the governing body of the school and were appended to the report.

A diversity impact assessment had been completed and it was noted that this series of proposals had been designed to ensure primary age children across Medway were provided with opportunities within first class learning environments to succeed in learning.

Reasons:

The suggested reasons for the decision are set out in paragraphs 4.1-4.2 of this report. In summary the main reasons are: the high level of surplus places at the school and the risk therefore to future viability; the need to ensure effective use of resources and in turn raise standards across schools; and the need to secure value for money in public services.

Rolls have fallen since 2003 and, though they are projected to rise to 2014, the school will remain small at less than 80 pupils. 

The school’s most recent OfSTED report in September 2009 commented, “St John’s is providing a satisfactory education with strengths in some important areas... overall progress is satisfactory rather than good.

Small schools in Medway receive a curriculum protection element within their budgets: this is calculated on a sliding scale so that the smallest schools receive the highest payments.  In the case of St. John’s, this amounted to £47,274 in 2009/10.  The school also attracts private donations – these have varied between £892 and zero in each of the last three years. Whilst St. John’s has managed its budget well and remained in surplus, the school would quite clearly be unviable without the curriculum protection element of the budget which constitutes more than 10% of the school’s total income.

If the school were to be closed and the pupils attended other schools in Medway, the saving in terms of fixed costs would be a minimum of £68,760 annually (at 2009/10 prices). An additional annual saving of £16,330 could be made depending on a decision about the use of the building and grounds.

Displaced pupils, who come from a relatively wide area of Medway, can be accommodated in local schools, if St. John’s were to be closed.

All schools’ budgets are allocated from a ring-fenced grant to the Council from central government, called the dedicated schools grant (DSG). It follows that a subsidy to one school inevitably leads to a reduction in funding to others.  Both major political parties have indicated that public expenditure will be reduced significantly following next year’s general election, although at this stage the extent to which this will affect education expenditure is uncertain. In these circumstances, the need to secure value for money in public services is crucial. 

St. John’s has no nursery and there is no space to develop one on the school site. Equally, children leaving St. John’s undergo a transition to junior school, the majority going on the Balfour Junior.  After four years, children undergo a further transition when they transfer to secondary school. The already small size of the school means that reducing the published admission number below 30 is not a viable option.

The independent review of the primary curriculum, published in 2009, commissioned by DCSF and carried out by Sir Jim Rose, identifies the management of transfer from one phase to the next as a key issue in children’s achievement.  It follows that the removal of such transitions is likely to improve outcomes for children.

For all the above reasons, officers recommended the closure of St. John’s Church of England Voluntary Controlled Infant School.