Agenda item

[Report of the Assistant Director for Schools and Learning. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Children and Families.]

Reporting to Cabinet on the results of the non-statutory consultation on the options for the future of Stamford Hill Primary School and to seek agreement for any next steps, including whether or not to proceed to a statutory consultation phase.

The Cabinet Member for Children and Families introduced the report which presented the outcomes of the preliminary stakeholder consultation (prestatutory) relating to the proposal to establish a new primary school through the amalgamation of Stamford Hill and Tiverton Primary schools from September 2020.

The Cabinet Member informed that in March 2019, a report was brought to Cabinet setting out the options for Stamford Hill Primary School. Approval was given from Cabinet to commence a pre-statutory consultation. This report presented the results of that pre-statutory consultation. It proposed that the school was amalgamated with Tiverton Primary School. The consultation lasted for 6 weeks and received 52 responses with the governors of both schools having been consulted extensively.

The Cabinet Member noted that there were issues regarding the long-term sustainability of both Stamford Hill Primary School and, to a lesser extent, Tiverton Primary School, with both schools having seen a falling number of admissions.

This report sought for approval to proceed to commence a six-week statutory consultation on the proposal to close Stamford Hill Primary School with the displaced pupils being accommodated by Tiverton Primary School from September 2020. The Cabinet Member informed that this was the preferred option and that the amalgamation would have the best long-term results.

In response to questions from Councillor Amin, the following information was noted:

• Regarding the future usage of the Stamford Hill Primary School building, the Cabinet Member noted that a report which detailed the options available would be presented to Cabinet at the appropriate time. The Cabinet Member stated it was anticipated the building would continue to be used for educational purposes.
• Regarding the leadership structure of the proposed amalgamated Tiverton Primary School, the Cabinet Member confirmed that there would be an amalgamated leadership with one head teacher but that the further leadership structure was still being discussed.

RESOLVED

1. To consider the outcome of the pre-statutory consultation on the proposals to close Stamford Hill Primary School with the displaced pupils being accommodated by Tiverton Primary School as set out in Section 6 of the Report; and 

2. To agree to proceed to commence a six-week statutory consultation on the proposal to close Stamford Hill Primary School with the displaced pupils being accommodated by Tiverton Primary School from September 2020.

Alternative options considered

A number of alternative options were presented to local stakeholders as part of the pre-statutory consultation. Stakeholders were also informed of the reasons why these options were less desirable than the Council’s preferred option of an amalgamation:

1. Keeping Stamford Hill open: This option does not provide a long-term sustainable solution to falling local demand and leaves other local schools vulnerable because demand for school places are falling more widely in the locality.

2. Federation: Federation is an option that focuses on improving educational delivery by allowing the governing body to use budget, resources and staff across a federation to improve the educational outcomes for all pupils. This option would need another school to federate with Stamford Hill Primary. Also, under a federation, schools would remain as separate organisations and this would not address the decline in numbers on roll at Stamford Hill (and other local schools) or the financial challenges that other schools are facing. This option is therefore less desirable than amalgamation.

3. Amalgamation with split site: This would involve Tiverton Primary School having two permanent sites and would not be desirable because it would involve the overheads of permanently running two sites in a context of falling demand for school places.

4. Closure of Stamford Hill Primary with pupils moving to other local schools (including Tiverton Primary):This would involve closing Stamford Hill Primary School and giving parent/carers the opportunity to apply for a school place at any other Haringey primary school (including Tiverton) and in other local authorities. This option provides a less outcome focused solution to those parents with children currently at Stamford Hill Primary and doesn’t provide a mechanism for ensuring cohorts of children are, as far as reasonably possible, kept together, which is an outcome some parents expressed as part of the pre-statutory consultation.

Local stakeholders were asked as part of the non-statutory consultation survey what their preferred option would be if they were not in favour of the proposal of an amalgamation. The consultation survey and the FAQ document containing the above alternative options are attached as an Appendix to this report.