John Summers High School: 593 consultation responses sent to Flintshire County Council

A total of 593 people responded to a Flintshire County Council consultation on future of John Summers High School.

Along with the consultation responses a petition signed by 3140 people asking the council to save the school has also submitted.

The council has now published it’s report into the consultation which was designed to establish whether people agreed with council proposals to close the school in light of falling pupil numbers.

A 40-page report published by County Hall on Friday dismisses most of the concerns raised by pupils, parents, staff, governors and local residents and adds more weight to claims that the consultation process has been a ‘white wash’ procedural exercise on a decision which many parents believe Flintshire education chiefs have been itching to make for some time.

Seven key issues.

The report identifies seven key issues raised from the formal consultation process which ran between 5th June and 17th July.

Transport:

A number of respondents raised concerns around transport and travel including increased travel time for pupils, increased costs, congestion, and a danger to those pupils who will have to walk greater distances to school.

In response the council say;

‘The proposal will lead to increased journey times for the majority of pupils, however these fall well under the guidelines for journey times under the Transport Measure.’

‘Whilst some pupils will be eligible for free home to school transport under the statutory three mile distance from home to school, the majority of pupils would not.’

‘Issues around transport will be presented to Cabinet at an appropriate time’

Transition Support:

Consultation respondents raised concerns around the transition from John Summers High School to other high schools should John Summers close, concerns regarding a potential change in curriculum due to pupils having to move schools, the impact on friendship groups and changes in teaching staff.

In response the council say;

‘A transition plan is in place and focuses on the requirements of the learners and endeavours to mitigate risk on continuity of education should the Minister determine to close John Summers High School.’

Impact on the Community;

A number of respondents said the school is part of the community and closing it would impact negatively on the community and local shops and businesses.

The council say;

‘Concerns are noted and the Council will work with John Summers High School and community to mitigate this where possible.’

Consultation Document;

Consultation respondents raised concerns around the consultation document itself, suggesting it was misleading and that the potential housing development at the Northern Gateway hadn’t been taken into account.

In a 1029 word response, officials have effectively ‘batted away’ any suggestions the consultation has been misleading and 1325 new homes being built on the Northern Gateway site would make little difference to the total number of pupils attending the school.

Impact on Teaching Staff;

Concern was raised regarding the future of the existing teaching staff.

The council say they will work with the current members of staff at John Summers High School, should councillors decide to back closure plans, to seek redeployment opportunities and that the governing body of the school will apply its own organisational change and redundancy policy.

‘Staff displaced by the proposal may have the opportunity to be employed in the local Secondary network given the movement of pupils to other secondary schools.’

Classroom Structure;

A big concern amongst many parents has been around potentially larger class sizes and if there is enough space to accommodate pupils in other nearby schools.

‘Ensuring that the Authority have the correct number of schools in the right places and the reduction unfilled places, will mitigate against higher pupil teacher ratio’s resulting from annual diminishing budgets due to austerity.’ the council say.

Uniforms;

A number of respondents raised concerns around the additional costs of purchasing new uniforms.

Ther council say;

‘It is fairly typical that most pupils will require new uniforms as they enter into a new academic year, therefore there may be a requirement to purchase a new uniform regardless of what school the pupil attended.’

Grants are available for year 7 pupils if, of course parents are entitled to them, also the council say used and recycled uniforms will be for sale via the ‘uniform exchange’ at Nightingale House Hospice shops throughout Flintshire.

Council Response to John Summers Governors;

John Summers school Governors sent the council a letter on 14th July claiming the consultation process had been inappropriately conducted and that questions have been  “reluctantly and inadequately answered in a way to cause concern.”

The council has dismissed the accusation saying there is no evidence or rational to support the allegations and that they are “surprised” at some of claims made in the Governor’s letter.

The lengthy report also goes on to dismiss data submitted by school governors on projected pupil numbers suggesting there is no evidence to back their numbers up, this is in essence a counter-claim as school Governors suggested data on projected pupil numbers presented by education chiefs was inaccurate and flawed, to which the council admit there had been a ‘single error in data used’

The 13600 word consultation report will be discussed at a Flintshire County Council cabinet meeting on Thursday where a decision around the school’s future is expected to be taken, full details of the meeting below:

Thursday, 6th August, 2015 10.00 am

• Attendance details
• Agenda frontsheet PDF 57 KB
• Agenda reports pack PDF 1 MB
• Add meeting to your calendar using VCS format

Venue: Council Chamber, County Hall, Mold CH7 6NA

Contact: Tracy Waters 01352 702331  Email: [email protected]

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