Issue - meetings

Background:

This report provided details of the proposals to amalgamate Park Wood Infant and Junior Schools by way of statutory prescribed alterations. The report explained that the schools had stated that they wished to amalgamate. As community schools, they had requested that the Local Authority made the statutory proposal on their behalf. The amalgamation process would be led by the Local Authority, who would also be the decision maker.

The proposals were:

·         to change the upper age range at Park Wood Infant School from 7 to 11 years old, to enable them to admit the older children from the junior school;

·         the enlargement of the premises at Park Wood Infant School to enable it to incorporate the buildings currently occupied by Park Wood Junior School; and

·         the closure of Park Wood Junior School.

It was proposed, subject to the outcome of the period of statutory representation, to formally implement the changes on 1 September 2020, when the school would become known as Park Wood Primary School.

A Diversity Impact Assessment (DIA) would be completed after the informal consultation and would accompany the outcomes of consultation report.

Reasons:

Approval to proceed to a period of informal consultation will ensure the Council complies with its duty to follow the prescribed consultation process when proposing changes to schools.