The Review of Secondary Education in the West Area of Gateshead

 

On June 2nd at the Cabinet meeting of Gateshead Council it was approved that the proposals below should be consulted upon during June and July.

                       

Option A

To close Hookergate School and transfer the exisiting pupils to Ryton School; the Council would seek to build a new “state of the art” school to replace the existing Ryton building, on a new site in the Greenside area.

 

Option B

To close both Hookergate and Ryton Schools and open a new secondary school, initially with all pupils on the Ryton site; the Council would seek to build a new “state of the art” school to replace the existing Ryton building, on a new site in the Greenside area.

 

Option C

To close Hookergate School and transfer the existing pupils to Ryton School; the Council would seek to rebuild or refurbish Ryton School on its existing site.

 

There is no preferred option at this stage. The three options are not listed in priority order.

 

(More detail from the Cabinet Report is printed at the back of this Newsletter)

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Ryton Comprehensive School’s initial response to these proposals.

 

Whilst being aware of the increase in the number of surplus places across the borough Ryton Comprehensive School has continued to be over subscribed and is a highly successful school so it was a shock when we were presented with the above proposals.  There are a number of detrimental implications for our school within each of the proposals which will need to be explored during the period of consultation.  The press release we posted on our website www.rytoncs.co.uk on June 2nd is our initial response to the cabinet report which will need to be refined as we seek the views of students, staff and parents as well as consulting with our many community partners.  For those of you who do not have easy access to a computer the press release is printed below.

 

 

 

Press Release from Ryton Comprehensive School

Re: Consultation on Secondary Review Proposals for the West of Gateshead.

 

Ryton Comprehensive School is a strong, popular and successful school which has a close relationship with its local community.  The leadership team of the school has worked in partnership with the staff at Hookergate School for many years starting with a Rural Pathfinder Project.  There has been collaborative teaching in both Sixth Form and Key Stage 4 in a variety of subjects as well as joint conferences and staff training.  We have tremendous concern for the staff and students at Hookergate who find themselves in a situation where their school is under threat of closure due to falling student numbers and vacant places.  It is clearly important to ensure that they know that every effort would be made to welcome them into our school and to ensure their needs are met should they join Ryton Comprehensive School.  This should be seen as a continuation of a process which started many years ago.

 

One of the options proposed within the consultation is to close both Ryton Comprehensive School and Hookergate and amalgamate them. We cannot accept that the best way forward is to close a very successful and over subscribed school which is held in high regard by its community in order to achieve a reduction in surplus pupil places in Gateshead.  We are happy to consider any options which look at accommodating additional pupils within Ryton Comprehensive School on its current site or at an alternative site which will be built in the future.  There will however be a groundswell of public opinion against the option which involves the closure of Ryton Comprehensive School. This would be to the detriment of pupil progress and staff well being with no obvious advantage to Hookergate School staff, students or community.

 

The other two options mean the closure of Hookergate School but with this school remaining open. We guarantee that we will work with the staff and governors of Hookergate in every way possible to ensure they are supported through this difficult transition and reassure them that we would want to make them feel equal partners in the development of education in the West of Gateshead. The consultation will also accept other proposals for reduction of surplus places. The Governors at Ryton Comprehensive School feel strongly that a more detailed appraisal of the capacity of the Western area schools to accommodate students from the areas of High Spen, Chopwell and Rowlands Gill is needed.

 

On educational grounds alone there is no logical argument in closing a good, forward looking and successful school which is full to capacity with waiting lists in every year group. On environmental grounds there is no logical argument to closing a school where 52% of the students walk to school and then bussing all but a small minority to Greenside.

 

The retirement of Stephanie Howarth at the end of August 2009 and the start of Steve Williamson as Head Teacher at Ryton is in no way compromised by these proposals. It is part of a strategic plan devised by the governors. Steve Williamson will provide the continuity and the strategic direction of the school for which the Governors have planned consistently over the last three years.

 

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All the members of staff at school are united in their response to the proposals and they have produced a letter which will be sent to Gateshead Council and other interested parties. 

 

We believe that in the forthcoming reorganisation of secondary education in the Western Gateshead area, the interests of students, prospective students and staff alike will be best served by ensuring that Ryton Comprehensive School remains open at its existing site with the prospect of refurbishment and/or rebuilding in the near future (Option C in the Secondary Review Report to Gateshead Council Cabinet).

 

We acknowledge that the Council considers Hookergate School’s position to be untenable in the future, and that this will present a difficult transition period for both staff and students at that school. However, we do not believe that the best solution to this problem can be found either in closing both schools or in moving Hookergate students to Ryton only to then make the suggested move to an as yet unspecified site in the Greenside area.

 

Ryton Comprehensive is a successful school.  It performs a vital role in the heart of the community.  It is supported by a dedicated governing body which has an excellent working relationship with staff at the school.  It attracts staff of the highest quality.  It has a school ethos comprising high expectations and mutual support which we believe is second to none.

 

We see the forthcoming reorganisation as an opportunity to provide an excellent education service to an even broader number of students in the area.  We are concerned however that in the upheaval which the closing of Hookergate will inevitably entail, two of the published proposals run the risk of causing unnecessary insecurity among parents, students and staff and we further believe that this could have a damaging effect in the long-term on educational provision across Western Gateshead.  We feel that we would be able to welcome Hookergate students and staff and provide greater continuity of education without the disruption which the formation of a new school would cause.

 

More than half of our students currently travel to school on foot.  We think that a new site in Greenside would have a much greater transport cost and also, as a result, a far greater environmental impact.  Moreover, our school has in the last seven years been the subject of a significant investment in its buildings, culminating most recently in a ‘state of the art’ sports complex.  For this reason we believe that rebuilding on the existing site must surely provide the best value for money option to council tax payers in Gateshead.

 

We urge the Council to take note of the on-going progress which Ryton Comprehensive is making in striving to provide excellent education in our area and to choose the option which best enables us to continue doing so.

 

 

The Governing Body of the school met on Monday evening , June 1st , to consider the cabinet report and a Parent Governors Group has been established.

 

Message from the Parent Governors

 

Meeting Thursday 18th June 2009, 7.30pm

 

As parents, we were most concerned to learn of the proposed reorganisation options (as described above) for secondary school provision in the West Area of Gateshead and especially regarding the possible implications for the education of present and future pupils at our school.

 

We expect most parents will feel the same way and are therefore proposing to hold a meeting for current and future parents of Ryton Comprehensive School pupils at the school on Thursday 18th June 2009 at 7.30pm.

 

The prime purpose of the meeting, at this stage, would be to address the following points.

           

What do you think about the options? (Please refer back to the options.)

 

            What questions would you like answered regarding the options?

 

What do you see to be the key issues and consequences about the different options?

 

            Do you have alternative options that you feel the Council should consider?

 

We, or others, could then see what can be done to answer any points raised.

 

In the mean time we would welcome any comments regarding the Council options in advance of the meeting. Comments can either be sent in to the school (please address envelopes to The Parent Governors) or left in a box at the school reception, or be sent in via the school website at www.rytoncs.co.uk  (Please click on the link Secondary Review Feedback which we hope will be active by Wednesday June 10th.)

                                                                                                          

The Council will be consulting with various groups of people during the next few weeks. We are keen to ensure that the focus of such meetings is the well-being of the pupils and the stability and quality of their education. We want these meetings to be as productive as possible and hope that the meeting on the 18th June will help to achieve this by giving parents the opportunity to consider and reflect on the key issues beforehand.

 

We would be interested in drawing up a list of names of those parents and friends willing to help support the school in ensuring that the best interests of current and future pupils at RCS are given priority during the review period, which will last between now and mid-July. If you are willing to help, we would be delighted to hear from you and would ask that you register your interest by completing the relevant section on the school website (as above.) This will enable us to keep you up to date with the situation and suggest possible ways you can support our school. This could be as simple as signing an on-line petition or sending a prepared letter to the Council so it doesn’t necessarily involve a huge time-commitment. We look forward to working with you to help all our children.

Ian Scott                      iscott@rytoncs.co.uk                0191 413 5823

John Below                  jbelow@rytoncs.co.uk  0191 413 8884

Alison Bourne               abourne@rytoncs.co.uk            0191 413 1852

David Campbell            dcampbell@rytoncs.co.uk        0191 413 8894

Andrew Jongman          ajongman@rytoncs.co.uk         0191 413 1754

Coralie Morton cmorton@rytoncs.co.uk           0191 413 8893

Catherine Soper           csoper@rytoncs.co.uk              0191 413 3542

All can be contacted via the school website or at

Ryton Comprehensive School, Main Road, Ryton, Tyne and Wear NE40 3AH

 

 

Ann for the back pages

 

Information from Gateshead Council

Policy Context

 

1.                  The Council has a statutory duty to:

·        ensure that there are sufficient schools and  places in the area;

·        promote high educational standards;

·        ensure fair access to educational opportunity;

·        promote diversity and increase parental choice;

·        make efficient use its resources;

·        promote the fulfilment of every child’s educational potential.

The proposals in this report are consistent with these statutory duties and with the Council’s vision for children and young people as set out in the Corporate Plan, the Children and Young People’s Plan and the Sustainable Community Strategy (Vision 2030).

 

            Background

 

2.                  It is a statutory requirement that the Council keeps school provision under review to ensure that the supply of school places and the overall number of schools matches current and future demand. Some surplus places are required in any area to ensure small rises and falls in the population can be accommodated and to support choice for parents. A figure of 10% surplus is considered appropriate across an area. Maintaining too many surplus places or schools represents an inefficient use of resources, which can have an adverse effect on educational standards generally.

 

3.                  Small schools often require a disproportionate share of the available resources in order to maintain standards and reasonable class sizes, which in turn can result in the inefficient use of resources and a shortage of funding across all schools. Each school maintained by the Council requires funding to maintain its buildings and site, its caretaking, cleaning and administrative staff, and a headteacher and other staff in management posts. Larger schools generally offer better value for money.

 

4.                  Capital investment for new and refurbished secondary school buildings, through the BSF programme, is determined by reference to the predicted number of students. In reviewing its secondary school provision serving communities across the West Area, the Council has to maximise the impact of the available capital funding by planning for the appropriate number of places and for a sustainable number of schools. There is an opportunity for the Council to submit a “readiness to deliver” bid to the BSF programme by 1 September 2009. In order to qualify for the release of BSF funding, the Council needs to have robust plans in place (or under development) in respect of the future demand for pupil places and the pattern of school organisation.

 

5.                  Hookergate School is now the smallest secondary school in Gateshead, with currently 445 students aged 11-16  (plus 87 post 16 students). It has a Planned Admission Number of 160, and a total capacity of 800 11-16 places.  Predicted to admit only 81 pupils to Year 7 in September, the 11-16 population will then reduce to 418. Falling numbers reduces the budget available to the governors and a significant reduction in staffing is already planned to reflect this. Further reductions are likely to become necessary in subsequent years. The number of parents indicating that Hookergate was their first choice of secondary school for their child for this September was 65.

 

6.                  Of the other secondary schools in the West Area, Ryton, Whickham and St Thomas More RC Schools remain at or close to full capacity and are usually oversubscribed, although numbers in their catchment areas have been falling. Kingsmeadow School is operating at around 75% of its capacity.

 

 

Options for Consultation

 

 

7.         Having carefully considered the current numbers and surplus capacity at Hookergate School, the falling numbers across the catchment area, parental preferences and trends, the school’s budget position and the current condition and location of the school buildings, the Council does not consider that the school is sustainable in its present form and location. To bid for and allocate BSF resources to invest in this school would therefore divert resources from other schools and sites that are more secure. Therefore, there is sadly no option presented in this report, which would retain Hookergate School in its present form and location.

 

 

            Option A

 

8.         Option A involves closing Hookergate School and transferring the existing pupils to Ryton School (or other schools with places available, according to parental preference).  The Council would seek to acquire BSF funding to provide a new purpose-built, state of the art school to replace the existing Ryton School buildings, on a new site to be identified in the Greenside area. A specific site in the Greenside area has not been designated at this stage, but the location would be accessible to all the main communities in its catchment area: Ryton, Crawcrook, Chopwell, High Spen, Highfield, Rowlands Gill, Blaydon and Winlaton. Careful commissioning of new transport services would ensure cost-effective and sustainable travel to school for all students in the catchment area.

 

 

            Option B

 

9.         Option B involves closing both Hookergate and Ryton Schools, and opening a new school for the existing pupils of both schools. The establishment of the new school would be subject to “competition” regulations, where the Council must invite proposals from potential providers (e.g. a Trust). The Council could also publish proposals for a new community school. Initially, all pupils would be accommodated on the Ryton site, but the Council would seek to acquire BSF funding to provide a new purpose-built, state of the art school to replace the existing Ryton School buildings, on a new site to be identified in the Greenside area. A specific site in the Greenside area has not been designated at this stage, but the location would be accessible to all the main communities in its catchment area: Ryton, Crawcrook, Chopwell, High Spen, Highfield, Rowlands Gill, Blaydon and Winlaton. Careful commissioning of new transport services would ensure cost-effective and sustainable travel to school for all students in the catchment area.

 

            Option C

 

10.       Option C involves closing Hookergate School and transferring the existing pupils to Ryton School (or other schools with places available, according to parental preference).  The Council would seek to acquire BSF funding to rebuild or refurbish Ryton School on its existing site. Careful commissioning of new transport services would ensure cost-effective and sustainable travel to school for all students in the Ryton catchment area.

 

 

            Other issues

 

11.       There is no preferred option at this stage, and the options in paragraphs 8-10 are not listed in any priority order. Consultation will enable stakeholders to suggest other options for viable and sustainable solutions for the West Area. It will be necessary to review the existing catchment areas of the schools in the West Area, and views will be invited during consultation. Adjustments to catchment areas may involve secondary schools other than Hookergate and Ryton, and the current “linked” primary school arrangements will also be subject to review.

 

12.       In all the options above, there is an assumption that the other secondary schools in the West/Inner West Areas (Whickham, Kingsmeadow and St Thomas More RC) will require a review of their current capacities, with a view to ensuring that BSF investment will deliver school buildings of the appropriate size for the communities they serve. Given the size and topography of the area under review, priority will be given in any preferred option to identifying sustainable and flexible transport provision. Views on how to achieve this will be invited during consultation.

 

13.       It is difficult to be precise on the timetable for any changes, but the aim at this stage would be to identify a preferred option (following consultation) early in the autumn term, then consult on that specific and detailed proposal before the end of the year. The implementation of any reorganisation would be likely to take 12-18 months, aiming for completion at the end of the 2010-11 academic year.  Completion of new or refurbished buildings is linked to the release of BSF funding, which is not within the control of the Council.

 

Consultation Arrangements

 

14.       It is proposed that extensive consultation is carried out during June - July 2009 with all key stakeholders. This will clearly need to include the governors, staff, parents and students of Hookergate and Ryton Schools, plus the parents of children currently attending their feeder primary schools. There will also be consultation with the other secondary schools (through their governing bodies) in the West and Inner West Areas.

 

15.       Other key stakeholders to be consulted will include Ward Councillors for the area, the West Area Forum and the Trade Unions. As part of the BSF requirements, the Council is required to discuss its proposals with the Office of the Schools Commissioner.

 

16.       The Portfolio Holders for Children and Young People, and for the West Area have been consulted on the contents of this report.

 

            Alternative Options

 

17.       This report identifies several alternative options for consideration and consultation. To not carry out the review is not an option.