Cabinet to discuss future of primary school
Released: 25 January 2008
Members of Wolverhampton City Council’s Cabinet are to consider a proposal to close a city primary school in the interests of wider education in the city.
Councillors will be asked, next week, to authorise the closure of Ettingshall Primary School, in Herbert Street, following a period of extensive consultation.
The proposal is a response to falling pupil numbers and a poor inspection outcome and aims to provide the best long term opportunities for children living in this part of the city.
The Ettingshall ward has the highest proportion of surplus places in the city at 32.8 per cent. Ettingshall Primary currently has 48.6 per cent surplus places. However the Government requires local authorities to operate at about 10 per cent surplus capacity.
Ettingshall Primary School has also experienced a number of problems in recent years. In November 2006 the school was placed in special measures by Ofsted for a second time and, although staff at the school have worked hard to make real improvements, the school was still judged by Government inspectors to be inadequate following their latest monitoring visit in October 2007.
At its meeting next Wednesday (January 30) the Cabinet will be asked to authorise the closure of Ettingshall Primary School with effect from August 31, 2008.
Councillor Christine Irvine, Cabinet Member for Schools, said: “It is always a sad and difficult decision to consider the closure of a school. This school has served Ettingshall for 70 years and we acknowledge the value placed on it by the local community.
“However, the school has experienced a number of serious problems in recent years and, although I want to congratulate staff on their hard work to make improvements, we must consider the implications of keeping the school open on wider education in the city and address the situation we have with falling pupil numbers. Our focus has to be to find the best solution to safeguard the best possible future for all Wolverhampton children.
“In every case the closure of a school and the relocation of pupils to other settings is a last resort but in this case it will enable us to offer children better access to quality learning opportunities, both in the medium and longer term.”
A formal consultation period on the future of the school was authorised by Cabinet in October 2007. Parents and carers of pupils, staff, the school’s Interim Executive Board, governors of neighbouring schools, councillors, MPs, the diocesan authorities and the community have all been consulted on the proposal. However, despite this rigorous consultation no significantly new ideas or issues have been generated which would suggest that there are feasible alternatives in respect of the future of the school.
At the meeting next week, if approval is given for the closure, Cabinet members will also be asked to give their authorisation for council officers to engage with the school and with other schools in the area in order to manage the closure effectively.
The report to Cabinet explains that in doing so, officers will take care to safeguard, as effectively as possible, the well-being of the pupils and staff directly affected by the closure.
The local authority will work with parents, carers and families from Ettingshall, to ensure that all children receive suitable offers of places in alternative schools. The needs of individual pupils and family groups will be taken into account in considering alternative provision in other schools in the area, which have adequate spaces. It is also expected that staff, with the assistance of the relevant unions and associations, will be supported in finding appropriate positions elsewhere.
A support group of officers will be established to provide the school with guidance and support in the period leading to closure.
Issued by the press office.