Agenda item

To receive a briefing from Councillor Jasmine Ali, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Refugees on the ‘Keeping Education Strong Recommendations’ agreed by cabinet in June 2023.

The item has been added to the agenda to enable the cabinet member to address concerns raised by some committee members at the time the decision was taken, particularly in relation to the decision(s) in connection with St Mary Magdalene School.  The cabinet member was unable to attend the July overview and scrutiny committee due to being away at an annual conference.

The committee received a presentation from Councillor Jasmine Ali, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Refugees, updating members on progress in relation to the ‘Keeping Education Strong Recommendations’ agreed by cabinet in June 2023.

Following the presentation the committee heard from Ms Anna Harding, Head Teacher, St Mary Magdalene School and Sonia Phippard, Chair of Governors, St Mary Magdalene School.

Ms Harding provided the committee with information on the schools response to falling school rolls, acknowledging that the school had gone from a one form entry to a half form entry.  Ms Harding highlighted that the school had a strategic plan over the last four years to move to mixed age classes. The school now had four mixed age classes, previously seven classes, and the school had had to restructure every level of their workforce, and had achieved minimal redundancies through forward planning.

Ms Harding explained that two of the classes had 30 children in them and one had 27. Those classes were full and working at capacity.  The school had had to turn down expressions of interest in the school because the classes were full.

Where the school was short was the reception year (the first time in three years).  Eight children had come into reception, but 15 were required in order for the numbers to be adequate, given that the school was operating a half form entry.  There had been 20 children the previous year, and there had been a three year increase up until this year.

Ms Harding reported that the school had high levels of children with SEN:

·  47% of children with additional needs

·  52% Pupil Premium children

·  8% of children with additional needs who have an education health care plan, and more that the school was applying for.

Ms Harding informed the committee that families had told the school that the reason they chose it was because it was a small school and were able to support their children’s needs.

Ms Harding also informed the committee of the following:

Lots of smalls schools across the country had operated satisfactorily with half form entry for many years.  The school and the governing body believed that they were able to provide a good quality of education. 

The school recognised that it could not continue to run a reception with just eight children.  The school had put a proposal to the local authority to open a mixed nursery reception class and that class would become a mixed age class in the same way as the other classes.

The local authority had advised that there wasn’t a need for nursery provision because there were empty nursery places across the borough.  In doing their own research the school had found that there was a need in their community and there were many people who wanted to come to their nursery.  The figures had been included in their business plan.

The St Mary’s Church in Peckham had just rented out their space to a private nursery, and through the tender process had three companies bidding for that space to open a private nursery.  The school therefore felt that there was a case for them to open a nursery.  The school already had the expertise, the class, and it wouldn’t be costly because it would be a mixed aged class using existing staff.

The school felt that it was being successful in providing a high quality of education, turning the school around in the last four years.  There was excellent behaviour and good standards across the school, a very happy supportive parent body and a strong governing body.  The school felt that it was a viable option going forward as a half form entry school.

There was a historical deficit budget of £27,000.  In the last four years the school had been within budget and had been reducing the deficit by small amounts despite the rising costs nationally.  The school had a three year plan to address the deficit.

The committee then heard from Ms Sonia Phippard.  Ms Phippard reported that the school had recognised the overarching case for change and had been very willing to engage with the council and other local schools to look for options for their school.  In respect of the possibility of an amalgamation with St John’s and St Clements which had been mentioned earlier, she felt that both schools recognised that both the distance between them and the different demographic meant that it was not an amalgamation that was likely to work.  They had also looked at possible amalgamations with non church schools, which had not worked.

Ms Phippard explained that they had been left in a situation where they felt they were fundamentally a viable school, meeting the needs of parents who wanted it, but didn’t at the moment see a serious alternative to the school continuing, particularly given the nature of the children that they were serving.  The school was open to further discussion, but felt that they had not had any serious discussion with the council since the beginning of the last term.  Ms Phippard welcomed the meeting that was due to take place with the council the following day and hoped that all options remained on the table.

The committee then heard from David Quirke-Thornton, strategic director of children and adults services.  David wished to put on record, his thanks to the head teacher, and the school for the work it had done over the years, in particular the inclusion of children with special educational needs.  He felt that the challenges faced across the system were captured in the strategy which was about working with schools and not doing on to them.  He stressed that it was important to find the right way forward for the school, because it was at the heart of the community, and discussions would continue.

David raised the issue of the future of faith schools in the country.  He informed the meeting that the Church of England (Southwark Diocese Board of Education) and the Catholic Commission had agreed with the government, the forward agenda of academisation of all their schools.  The local Diocese already had an academy trust to manage the future of its schools.  David shared this information to highlight another context unique to faith schools which was in play in this circumstance, and needed to be part of the solution in sustaining the schools.  The council was no longer in a position where it was the LEA having a relationship with schools and able to sort out these issues itself.  There was now a Schools Forum, which was having to navigate the way forward, and so increasingly he was asking the Diocese Board and the Catholic commission for clarity on their plans for their schools to help them be sustainable.

David explained that in terms of nursery places – there were very significant challenges on some nurseries because of the fall in birth rate, and those most at risk were nursery schools.  Private nurseries were able to operate in a certain way, and nursery schools had a much harder challenge, and this was being seen at various nursery schools across the borough and the country.  He admired the approach the head teacher had taken with her team to skillfully navigate mixed age year groups.  The challenge for all was how to get it right for parents in this neighbourhood against the backdrop of the falling birth rate and the limited funding available for the whole system and nurseries. 

David indicated that he respected what the school had done and the plans put forward. 

He acknowledge that the deficit was not huge, and that there was a plan to resolve that within three years.  He hoped that working together and with the diocesan board that they could find the solution.  He felt that all three organisations needed to be involved to make this work.

Questions and discussion were held around the following:

·  Impact closure will have on the high percentage of SEN pupils

·  Rationale for restructuring of the Education Department

·  Mixed reception nursery classes

·  Safeguarding and providing extra resource to protect against loss of learning at both KS2 and KS4, particularly for less well-off children

·  Reasons for reduction in applications for reception class

·  Quality of education versus what an individual schools budget allows them to acquire

·  Council communication with St Mary Magdalene school

·  Repurposing of schools that have closed (under council control) for special education needs provision

·  Exploration of St Mary Magdalene school becoming an Academy.