A number of questions have been submitted to CC Rear in advance.
Minutes:
The Chair welcomed County Councillor Jayne Rear, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, alongside the Head of Education Improvement and School Place Planning Manager at Lancashire County Council, to deliver a presentation and answer questions from members of the Liaison.
A number of key points were highlighted to the Liaison. These included improvements in achieving school preferences across Chorley, a lower pupil forecast in the coming years and lower birthrates that should help to maintain high school place capacity in the borough and mitigate for increases as a result of further housing development.
Responding to submitted questions around demand for high school places and places being reserved for what would of traditionally have been called ‘feeder schools’, it was noted that despite the county council’s objections, Albany High School had changed their admissions criteria last year to prioritise pupils from a number of primary schools across the county border in Bolton. However, as a result of further dialogue between Albany and the county council, there had been an increase in overall places to cover the shortages.
It was clarified that all the high schools in the Chorley area were academy trusts that can set their own criteria for admissions and don’t align with the county council’s admission criteria.
The Liaison was reassured that the School Place Planning team are continually monitoring a range of factors, including birth rates, population migration and new housing developments, to forecast demand for school places at all levels so that the county council meets its ‘sufficiency duty’ and ensure a school place for every pupil. Projections and forecasts are also shared with the Department for Education, along with plans to address any shortfalls in capacity that are identified. Academy Trusts do present challenges in meeting demand, but it was noted that many also work closely with the county council in finding solutions when required. It was confirmed that there were around 50 spare high school places in Chorley at Southlands High School but acknowledged recent Ofsted inspections would likely deter parent’s preference until this improved. The priority would always be to drive improvement in schools underperforming before looking to temporary expansions at other schools.
Questions were asked why Chorley and South Ribble were treated as one area, when this is not replicated anywhere else in Lancashire. Members heard that local areas would be assessed, and where appropriate would consider cross district boundaries, such as in Buckshaw Village where the nearest schools were in South Ribble. In order to ensure adequate school places in areas close to neighbouring authorities, the county council would always work with them to find best solutions to meet demand.
Regarding SEND places in Chorley, Mayfield Special School is a 2-19 year old provision and is a General Learning Difficulty (GLD) school and has this year increased by 20 places with scope for further expansion if required. The other school in Chorley is Astley Park but due to constraints of the site, it would be difficult to expand any more. In addition, a new SEND unit has been established at St Jospeh’s which accommodates children who can access some mainstream provision but still have special educational needs. Other units at Northbrook and Wellfields in South Ribble are also being considered and going through consultation process. In response to whether Astley Park Special School could be relocated to enable increase in capacity, it was noted that the cost to build a new school would be significant.
With regards to funding for SEND places, this is assigned by the Department for Education with a lot of work taking place to ensure a consistent approach to how funding is allocated across the county.
Further discussions centred around the provision for special educational needs up until the age of 25, education, health and care plans, supported internship programmes and improvements needed at college level for students with disabilities and special educational needs.
Further questions were welcomed, with members directed to contact County Councillor Jayne Rear on jayne.rear@lancashire.gov.uk
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