We're seeking the views of parents/carers, pupils, staff, governors and other interested parties on the proposal that Buildwas Primary School should close. 

Shropshire Council made the decision to consult on this proposal on 13 July 2015, and invites responses within the consultation period to help councillors make a full and informed decision regarding the future of the school. It's important to recognise that at this stage in the process no decisions have been taken, and the responses to the consultation will be fully considered. This document sets out the key facts of the proposal and the ways in which you can express your views. There will also be a meeting with senior council officers, at which the proposal will be explained in more detail and you will be able to attend and ask questions.

This document can't set out all the facts which could be relevant. During the consultation period other information will be collated and used to inform any decision. As part of the consultation we welcome your views on what additional information would be useful. All the information in the document is understood to be correct at the time of publication but if you do have questions or comments, or would like clarification of the process, please let us know.

The results of the consultation, including notes of the meetings and all written submissions, will be set out for cabinet members on 28 October 2015, when they will consider whether to take the proposal on to the next stage. It's important to remember that the purpose of the consultation is to inform councillors.

We're consulting on a proposal to close Buildwas Primary School with effect from 31 August 2016.

Buildwas Primary School has been judged by Ofsted to be an underperforming school. It currently only provides education for just over half of the children in its catchment area. Numbers have declined since a peak in January 2013, and if they continue to do so then any consequent reduction in funding to the school will affect its financial viability and educational sustainability.

Shropshire Council has therefore decided to consult on a proposed closure of Buildwas Primary School in August 2016 in order to secure the most effective provision for Shropshire’s children in other local primary schools.

The consultation was approved on 13 July 2015 at a portfolio holder decision making session. Buildwas Primary School was represented at this meeting by the chair of the school governors. For more information, take a look at the report presented at the meeting.

The most recent Ofsted inspection of Buildwas Primary School, in January 2015, placed the school in special measures. This followed a period when the school had been judged to require improvement.  Changes in leadership had left the school vulnerable, and efforts to secure partnership arrangements, for example through federation, have been unsuccessful.

For a school judged to require special measures the local authority has to make clear what action it would take to rapidly improve the provision and outcomes for children currently at the school.  It also has to give careful consideration to the longer term plans for securing effective and sustainable provision for children in the area.

In considering the long term sustainability of the school the council has determined that it should consider closure of the school because:

• the number of pupils on roll has declined since its peak in January 2013
• any decline in pupil numbers would lead to a reduction in the school’s budget share and impact on the school’s ability to deliver effective education
• currently only just over half of the pupils in the catchment area attend the school
• over half of the children attending the school come from out of area, with the majority coming from the Telford & Wrekin Council area
• the new primary school due to open nearby could adversely affect the number of pupils coming to Buildwas Primary School from Telford & Wrekin

Securing long-term leadership arrangements for the school has been difficult. The acting headteacher who took up post in January 2015 left the school at the end of August 2015 and further acting headship arrangements have been secured by the local authority.

The council is therefore giving serious consideration to whether it is better able to fulfil its duty to promote high standards of education in schools, and the fulfilment of every child’s potential (Education Act 1996), through closing the school and making provision for current and future pupils at alternative local schools which are both more effective and more sustainable.

The council has endorsed criteria for school organisation which link with the proposal as follows:

Quality of education

The Ofsted inspection of the school in January 2015 identified a significant number of key weaknesses, including: the quality of teaching in Years 1 to 6; pupil progress in reading and writing in Years 1-6; provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND); the weak support for children demonstrating challenging behaviour in Year 6, and; a range of leadership issues, including some related to safeguarding.

Monitoring evidence confirms that the recent work of the acting headteacher and governors, with the challenge and support of the local authority, is improving provision for the children who currently attend the school. Although cohorts are small, outcomes for children in 2015 have improved in the Early Years Foundation stage (9 pupils), Year 1 phonic screening (15 pupils) and in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 1 (12 pupils). Outcomes have also improved at the end of key stage 2 (7 pupils) in reading, writing and mathematics, with the exception of level 5+ in writing. All pupils made at least expected progress.

This improvement for children currently attending the school is welcomed. However, it does not secure long-term sustainability. Any decline in pupil numbers, and consequent school budget reduction, would make it harder to secure the long-term improvement of the school. We therefore have to consider whether more effective education can be provided to children in neighbouring good and outstanding schools.

Use of resources

Efficient use of buildings including building and site features

In the 2014/15 academic year, Buildwas Primary School had 13 unfilled places (15.5%). The school site is very compact, is deficient in size and is on a sloping gradient. The hall is about one third of the required size.  The school is located on the busy B4380, with school parking directly off this road, and is accessed via a narrow residential road to the rear of the site, including a school bus drop-off.

Revenue effects

Continuing to run a school that is failing to provide a good standard of education for its pupils does not provide value for money. The closure of Buildwas Primary School would lead to the redistribution of the school’s revenue funding through the Shropshire schools’ funding formula, with the pupil-led formula factors resulting in the funding following the pupils transferring into other, mainly local, Shropshire schools. These receiving schools will see their budgets increase as their numbers on roll rise.

This redistribution of funding means that there is no direct saving to the local authority or to the overall schools’ budget. However, it's important to note that for any pupils transferring out of area eg to Telford & Wrekin schools, there would be a reduction in the dedicated schools grant Shropshire receives. 

Capital requirements

In the event of the school closing, there would be the likelihood of a one-off capital receipt arising from the sale of the council’s ownership of the school site.

After the consultation period, and when decisions would be made about which school(s) would be named as alternatives for the pupils affected by the closure, decisions would be made about whether there is a need for any capital investment in these alternative sites. 

Access

In 2014/15 academic year, 56.3% of pupils at Buildwas Primary School came from outside the designated catchment area. If the proposal was implemented, these pupils would be most likely to continue their current mode of travel, or might be able to purchase spare seats on a school bus. An initial analysis of the next nearest schools for current children on roll at Buildwas Primary School shows maximum travel distances from home to be approximately 4 to 4.5 miles, which is within the national guidelines and Shropshire’s own travel policy for primary-age children.  All the pupils from within the catchment area would be able to reach a number of good or better schools within a 45 minute journey time, the maximum travel time suggested by the government based on its knowledge of best practice.

Five Shropshire primary schools local to Buildwas Primary School have unfilled places and all are judged by Ofsted to be good or outstanding.  If the decision is made to close Buildwas Primary School, the local authority will nominate one or more schools to receive pupils from Buildwas.  However, parental preference means that children can take up available places at any school.  The details of the school(s) to be named by the local authority as the alternative location(s) would be outlined if the proposal proceeds to the next stage, and comment during the consultation period would be welcomed.

In the event of a decision to close the school, it would be necessary to re-designate the catchment area to a neighbouring school or schools.  It is possible that the existing defined catchment area could be split between more than one school and the reorganisation of catchment boundaries would be detailed in any proposal.  The majority of pupils and pre-school known children in the Buildwas area live in the centre or west of the catchment area, towards Upton Magna and Cressage. 

In accordance with the School Admissions Code, a separate formal consultation on changes to the designated catchment area would need to commence on or before 18 December 2015 to be completed in 6 weeks by 31 January 2016.  Changes would then be formally approved by Shropshire Council’s cabinet before 28 February 2016 as part of the annual determination of admission arrangements.

Parents of children who will be of Reception age in September 2016 are able to make an application for Buildwas Primary School in the normal way.  If the decision is taken to close Buildwas Primary School, applicants for the school would be able to amend their application to nominate an alternative school of their preference.  In that event, any applicant who named Buildwas Primary School in their application would be contacted after the closing date of 15 January 2016, to request an alternative school to be nominated in place of Buildwas Primary School.  Allocations of school places will take place on 18 April 2016 and would take account of school preferences amended in such exceptional circumstances.

Children already on roll at Buildwas Primary School would be able to continue at the school until the end of the 2015/16 academic year and admissions guidance has already been offered to parents.  In early September, parents of Year 6 children will receive information on application for transfer to secondary school for September 2016.  Their applications will be processed as part of the normal admissions round and notifications of the allocated secondary schools will be made on 1 March 2016. 

Should the decision be taken to close Buildwas Primary School, support and guidance would be provided early in 2016 to support parents of children in Reception to Year 5 to make an application for alternative schools of their preference.  This process would be co-ordinated by Shropshire Council’s School Admissions Team in collaboration with all schools in the area.  Buildwas Primary School would be offered the support of local authority officers to ensure that the transition was managed smoothly and effectively and that children currently on roll at the school were prepared for their move. 

The closure of Buildwas Primary School would have an impact on local early years provision.  It is acknowledged that there is no other easily accessible maintained nursery provision in the village.  However, currently only two Shropshire children regularly access their free Early Years entitlement at the school’s local authority maintained nursery, and another seven or eight children who live in Telford & Wrekin attend the nursery.  There is alternative early years provision in the local area, and the council is confident that, if the nursery was to close, the needs of the Shropshire children could be met through that other provision.  However, some families may need to travel further than would currently be the case.

If the decision was taken to close Buildwas Primary School the staff would be subject to a redundancy process.  The council would work with trade unions and the governing bodies of other Shropshire schools to endeavour to find alternative employment for all the staff of the school.  If a significant number of pupils transfer to one of the local schools, it is possible that one or more of the staff might be employed by the receiving school.

Staff will have their own consultation meeting where they will be provided with further information and will have the opportunity to ask further questions.  At a later date, if it is decided that the school should close, staff will be given additional information and personal support.

If, at the end of the consultation process, the school closes, the council would declare the school building and grounds surplus to requirements.  The premises would then most likely be considered for disposal.  The future use would depend on the plans of the new owner.  Any money which is raised by the council through the sale of assets would be used to invest in Shropshire schools.

If the school closes, pupils who live within the existing Buildwas Primary School catchment area and attend the school, and transfer to another local school, as directed by the local authority at the end of the summer term 2016, would be eligible for free home to school transport.  In future years other pupils would be assessed for free transport eligibility in line with the policy at the time.  The actual costs would be determined in part by patterns of parental preference.  Although the council encourages parents to use shared transport where it is available, there might also be some parents who choose to transport some children themselves. 

Consideration of the impact on the community if the school closes is contained within the section on rurality below.  It is understood that there may be some increased carbon emissions from increased vehicular travel if the school were to close.  This might be in part offset by the loss of any environmentally detrimental effect that the daily running of the school might produce, such as emissions from heating and lighting, although this itself would be dependent upon the site’s use under new ownership.

If the proposal was implemented, any revised transport arrangements for pupils displaced may lead to an increase in traffic and carbon emissions in the area but the proposal would lessen the congestion outside the site of the school at key times of the day. 

Buildwas Primary School is designated by the Department for Education (DfE) as a rural school and therefore any case for closure has to be strong and a proposal in the best interests of education in the area.

Shropshire Council has considered the likely effects on the village in the light of experience gained in school closures which have taken place in Shropshire and elsewhere.  If the school were to close, the village might become less attractive to some families, but it would not necessarily have an effect on most potential residents.  It might change the balance of the type of potential residents without affecting their numbers. 

There are a number of settlements in the surrounding area which currently do not have schools but remain viable.  Some of these are already part of the community of other neighbouring schools.  Schools would naturally seek to remain a focal point of not just their immediate settlement, but also the wider community (catchment) as a whole.  From previous experience Buildwas would quickly take a place as a valued part of that kind of a wider community.  Any loss of school clubs would be replaced by similar opportunities at the other schools in the area to which children would transfer.

Other activities in the locality already take place at other establishments, such as Buildwas Village Hall, Leighton Hall and the Kynnersley Arms public house, all of which could continue to be focal points of community activity if the school were to close.

Consideration has been given to alternatives to closure.  The local authority tried to broker federation proposals with four possible partners but these talks did not progress effectively and subsequently federation ceased to be a viable option.  Discussions have taken place between the DfE and the governors of the school about potential sponsorship for Buildwas Primary School by a multi-academy trust.  A DfE representative has met with the governing body of the school and the local authority and suggested that identifying a partner to sponsor Buildwas Primary School will not be easy.  At the time of writing there are no obvious partners in the local area.

Any transport costs resulting from the proposed school closure to the next nearest school directed by the local authority would be met as prescribed within the council’s home to school transport policy.

The closure of Buildwas Primary would remove 84 non-faith primary school places in this area of Shropshire.  However, neighbouring local authority maintained schools have unfilled places.  Further non-faith places within their own local authority area would be available to children who currently travel from Telford & Wrekin to Buildwas Primary School.

The council is aware that discussions continue between the DfE and the governors of the school about potential sponsorship for Buildwas Primary School by a multi-academy trust.  The outcomes of these discussions could inform the consultation process.

Almost without exception, children on roll at Buildwas Primary School transfer to William Brookes School at the end of Year 6.  The admissions criteria for this secondary academy provides an extra weighting for applicants residing outside the designated catchment area (including those resident in Telford & Wrekin), who have been on roll at a primary school situated within the designated catchment area for 12 months prior to transfer.  The schools are known as linked primary schools.

Children who live within the designated catchment area for William Brookes School will continue to have a high priority for places even if they are not on roll at Buildwas Primary School.  Children who live outside the designated catchment could potentially continue to qualify as linked primary applicants if they were to transfer to any other linked primary school.  There are sufficient vacancies at these schools to accommodate all current Buildwas Primary School pupils, whether resident in Shropshire or elsewhere.

No decision to close the school has been taken at this stage of the consultation process.  The outcome of the consultation process is intended to provide members of the council’s cabinet with the information they need to decide whether or not to take this proposal on to the next stage, which would be the publication of a notice of closure proposal.  Cabinet will take that decision based on the information in a report prepared by officers following the closure of this round of consultation.  The report will include notes of meetings and all consultation responses.  The timetable for next steps is set out below:

• Monday 7 September - Sunday 18 October 2015 - statutory consultation
• Wednesday 28 October 2015 - cabinet decision on whether or not to publish closure proposal

If the decision is taken to proceed with a publication of notice, the timetable will proceed as follows:

• Monday 2 November 2015 - publication of notice of closure proposal
• Monday 2 November - Sunday 29 November 2015 - four-week statutory representation period
• Wednesday 9 December 2015 - cabinet decision on proposal to close Buildwas Primary School in August 2016

Click on the 'How to get involved' tab above for information on how to submit your thoughts on the proposal.

The consultation period will end on Sunday 18 October 2015.

Meetings for staff, governors and parents/carers and other interested members of the community will be held on Wednesday 23 September 2015 at 4pm, 5.30pm and 7pm.  The first two meetings will be held at the school and the final meeting will be held at Buildwas Village Hall.