Agenda item

To receive a report on planning arrangements for school places.    

Eveleen Riordan, the Joint Interim Head of Education Services, reported that the birth rate in London had stabilised and was now predicted to fall.  This would have an impact on future demand for school places and had been reflected in projections of demand for primary school places, especially in the Crouch End and Muswell Hill areas.  However, there was still likely to be additional demand in areas of the borough where regeneration was taking place and there was also currently a need for additional capacity at secondary level. 

Due to legislative changes, the only way that it was now possible for the Council to increase the supply of school places was through expansion of maintained schools or by facilitating the establishment of new free schools.  In terms of post 16 provision, there were currently enough places to meet demand despite the increase in the participation age to 18.  Following recent changes in the relationship between schools and local authorities, the majority of Haringey schools had chosen to maintain close ties with the Council.  There were a number of different potential options for models of future provision.  The most likely future model for Haringey would be a mix of maintained schools, academies, free schools, colleges and multi academy trusts. 

It was noted that if a higher percentage of Haringey young people stayed within the borough for post 16 provision it would be difficult for the borough to meet demand.  It was considered that there were sufficient places to meet current and projected demand, although not all settings were currently operating at the optimum level.  In respect of apprenticeships, it was felt that the potential of these had not yet been realised fully and the Council would be looking at how they could be better supported and supplemented.  The quality and number of them needed to be improved and work was being undertaken in conjunction with colleagues in Regeneration to address how this might happen.  It was important that there were more quality pathways available. 

In response to a question on diagnosing autism, should a diagnosis be required it would be carried out by agencies outside of the school but with the school supporting the process and seeking an ECHP (Education and Health Care Plan) as required. There was a process for identifying special educational needs and determining any need for support.   Of particular note was the current and future provision for autism that was being developed at Heartlands High.  Numbers of children with special educational needs had increased, although some of this could be attributed to improved diagnosis. SEN numbers were on the rise across the capital.

It was noted that there were currently sufficient school places across all year groups and phases, including provision to meet demand from in year applications.  Placements via primary and secondary were made to ensure that hard to place children were not all placed at the same schools but were shared equitably. 

A Panel Member expressed concern that there were currently no schools with sixth forms in Tottenham.   In addition, there was likely to be additional demand for places in the Tottenham area due to regeneration.  It was noted that school based sixth forms in Tottenham had been removed a number of years ago with the establishment of the 6^th Form Centre.  Sixth form provision in the borough remained on the agenda.  Research suggested that it was aspirational for schools to have 6^th forms within their school as it enabled pupils and teachers to see the onwards progression.  Specific consideration was being given to potential future provision in the Northumberland Park area.

It was noted that Haringey 6^th Form Centre had not been the success in terms of place uptake that it could be.  However, it had recently been inspected and categorised as “good” by OFSTED.  The establishment of any sixth forms in Tottenham would now have to be funded from within the resources of schools there.  They would also face a challenge in ensuring that they were able to provide sufficient breadth of curriculum.  It was agreed that a paper on 6^th form provision, including outcomes, be submitted to a future meeting of the Panel and that this be linked to its in-depth work on youth transition as the issues were closely related. 

In respect of Harris Academy in Tottenham, it was noted that this was an all through school with an age range from 3 to 17.  However, whilst Year 7 was currently full, there were a significant number of reception places available.  There was a lack of evidence so far to support the effectiveness of all through schools in terms of outcomes. 

It was noted that there would be changes in the National Funding Formula for schools from 2016/17, which would mean that some schools were likely to receive less funding.  There was a local agreement of 27 in place in respect of class sizes of for secondary schools in the borough.  To ensure adequate funding continued, consideration was being given to entering into negotiations for this to be increased to class sizes of 30. If class sizes were increased, the number of additional year 7 places created suggests that there would be continued place sufficiency to meet future demand.  

It was noted that demand for and supply of primary school places fluctuated across the borough and current projections indicated that there might be an excess of places in Crouch End in the future that equated to approximately 4 classes whilst in Muswell Hill this was likely to be 3 classes.   

There had been some volatility in projections for demand for both reception and in year places in recent years.  This was affected by, among other things, migration and changes to benefits. As part of their work, Education Services liaised with town planners regarding potential demand for additional places arising from housing developments in the borough and these were factored into the borough’s school roll projections.  However, projections was not an exact science and demand for and supply of places was continually monitored to ensure sufficiency. 

It was noted that half of surplus school places in the borough were concentrated in two new free schools.  Parents could be reticent to apply to new schools because of a lack of a track record in terms of attainment and other factors. 

AGREED:

1.    That educational outcome data be shared with the Panel on young people who are educated out of borough; and

2.      That a report on 6^th form provision, including outcomes, be submitted to the Panel and that this be linked to its in-depth work on youth transition.