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Question from: County Councillor Iain McIntosh Subject: Education
Question:
During an Education member development session on 19th January, a representative from Ysgol Llanfyllin revealed that some schools may be willing to explore community classrooms to save schools that are at risk of closure. Furthermore, the school representative claimed that to include all clusters under one umbrella would improve provision and the stability of provision.
I don’t believe this option was presented to decision making Cabinet members when asked to determine the future of Llanbedr, Dolau and Cradoc primary schools.
Other options presented to education officers and the Cabinet member for education, Cllr Phyl Davies, by myself, governors and residents within the Yscir ward, regarding the proposed closure of Cradoc Primary School, were also not presented to decision making cabinet members during the Cabinet meeting of 14th December, where a decision to close that school was made. One of the options, amongst others, was based upon the building of a new primary school in Cradoc.
Within Powys County Council’s constitution, under the ‘Principles of decision making’, it states the following at 13.2.4 – All decisions of the council will be made in accordance with the following principle: The consideration of any alternative options.
As decision making about the future of primary schools in Powys is made by all Cabinet members, can you reveal why, during meetings where school closure decisions have been made, some alternative options have not been presented to all Cabinet members, or considered, as per 13.2,4 of our own constitution?
As elected County Councillors, we are elected to deliver commitments we make to residents within our wards and the rest of Powys during elections. We are also elected to make decisions on policy and service delivery, based upon what we believe to be best for Powys residents, our ethic and principles, political or otherwise. . Prior to my resignation from Cabinet on 14th December and, prior to any Cabinet decision around the future of Cradoc Primary School, I met with education officers. During that meeting I was told ‘Look, you’re not going to get a new school in Cradoc.’. Therefore, can the portfolio holder for education also please confirm who really makes decisions around schools and the delivery of education in Powys please? If officers within this authority are making decisions about schools, or indeed any services, why are we here as elected members?
Does the portfolio holder agree with me, that in light of unexplored options around the education provision for children in Powys, and the thread to rural schools, all current school transformation proposals, to include decisions made around the future of Dolau, Llanbedr and Cradoc Schools, should be paused, to make sure any decisions made about the future of these schools, consider all options?
Minutes: Response by the Portfolio Holder:
Nobody in a role within the council is saying that “small schools cannot deliver the new curriculum” or even implying that. What is being said is that it will be more challenging for a teacher who teaches 3 or 4 year groups at a time to deliver the change that is needed. We are yet to meet a professional who would not concur with this view – and our trades unions are concerned about the workload in schools with teaching heads and multiple year groups in each class. The local authority has put in place a structure to support all of our schools – of whatever size – and we are getting on with that job. However, it is far more challenging for our smallest schools to engage, compared with those schools that have an individual member of staff responsible for a single area of learning and experience for the whole school, rather than a single teacher leading on all six AoLEs for an entire key stage (as schools are currently configured).
The Strategy sets out the council’s ambition to move to 13 all-through schools (one in each locality), however, it recognises that there are a number of phases to move through to achieve this vision.
The school organisation code has been and continues to be followed for all proposals (part of our phasing to deliver the strategy) including the options that have been considered.
Brecon Programme Business Case (PBC) was considered by Cabinet on the 29th September 2020. Link to the papers: Agenda for Cabinet on Tuesday, 29th September, 2020, 2.00 pm Cyngor Sir Powys County Council (moderngov.co.uk)
The Brecon PBC is item 8 on the agenda; link to the actual business case document:
https://powys.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s53100/Appendix A - Brecon Catchment PBC.pdf
Within section 3.4 the long-list of options includes options to establish an all-through school in Brecon – see options 5A, 5B and 5C. You will see that option 5A, which included establishing an all-through school in Brecon, was carried forward as a shortlisted option, however this was not the preferred option at that time. The business case does suggest though that the all-age model could be adopted at a later date (see the last paragraph of section 3.9.2).
The long-list of options in section 3.4 also includes options to rebuild a school in Cradoc.
Therefore regarding consideration of options as part of the process, options were identified and considered when developing the proposal, these are listed in the consultation document. There was then an opportunity for consultees to suggest alternative options during the consultation period. New options were suggested during this phase of the process, and these were considered in the consultation report. The option to establish a ‘classroom in the country’ was not suggested during this phase.
There is no difference of a ‘classroom in the country’ to having a ‘small rural school’; the pressures heading up small schools with lack of numbers to specialise, dealing with leadership, management, additional learning needs ... view the full minutes text for item 1. |