Members were advised that this item would allow them to
undertake a pre-decision scrutiny on Primary School Places to Serve
Cathays and parts of Gabalfa, Heath,
Llandaff North and Plasnewydd which would be considered by Cabinet on
19 October 2023.
The
Chair welcomed Councillor Huw Thomas
(Leader of the Council), Melanie Godfrey (Director of Education and
Lifelong Learning), Richard Portas
(Programme Director for the School Organisation Programme), Brett
Andrewartha (School Organisation Programme Planning Manager); and
Michele Duddridge-Friedl (Operational
Manager, School Organisation Programme Strategy).
Councillor Thomas was invited to make a statement, in which he
highlighted the process to date. He
explained that at its meeting on 23 March 2023, the Council’s
Cabinet had agreed a recommendation to hold public consultation on
three options to expand Welsh medium primary school provision and
consolidate English-medium primary school provision.
Councillor Thomas highlighted the preferred Option 1 which was
as follows:
-
Transfer Ysgol
Mynydd Bychan to the current
Allensbank Primary School
site.
-
Increase the capacity of Ysgol Mynydd
Bychan from 192
places (0.9FE) to 420 places (2FE) and increase the number of
nursery places at Ysgol Mynydd Bychan from 64
to 96.
-
Amalgamate Allensbank
and Gladstone Primary Schools:
-
Formally Close Allensbank Primary School.
-
Formally Close Gladstone Primary School.
-
Establish a new 420 place (2FE) English-medium
Primary School with nursery on
the current shared Gladstone Primary School / St Monica’s
Church in Wales Primary School site.
-
Transfer St Monica’s Church
in Wales Primary School to the current Ysgol Mynydd
Bychan site and establish nursery
provision at the school.
The proposed changes
would take effect from September 2025.
Members were informed that the proposal allowed for the
expansion of Welsh medium provision in the area which was a key
commitment in the WESP. Cabinet was
also keen to ensure that the proposal should not disadvantage
English medium provision. If the
proposal went ahead measures would be taken to invest in the
building to bring it up to standard.
During the presentation of the report Members were informed that
consultation had taken place on the three proposals with Option 1
being the preferred option. The 230
responses received included 189 online and hard copy responses.
There were 17 formal responses, 2 School Council responses and 5
email responses. Specific responses
were received from each of the governing bodies and headteachers at the schools and from a range of
organisations including Estyn that said
the standards would at least be maintained as part of the
proposals. There had also been a
sizeable number of responses from individuals affiliated with the
three schools, the highest proportion being from Allensbank Primary School. Many of the responses were also closely linked to
the proposals with each individual school.
Members were invited to ask questions and make comments; the
discussion is summarised as follows:
- Members enquired
whether the proposal provided a good balance of Welsh and English
medium provision. Officers responded
that the rationale behind the proposal was to expand the provision
of Welsh Medium and to provide a better balance of English Medium
provision. The intention was not to
reduce but to allow for a re-organisation of provision. Members
noted that if the Council proceeded with the
proposal it would result in a larger school, with a more efficient
make up and would partially clear the deficit of those schools
leading to a securer financial base to start from.
- Members asked
whether the Cathays primaries consultation had highlighted need
elsewhere; and whether there was confidence about capacity of Welsh
medium places for the future. Officers
responded that this had been earmarked for attention in the SOP
Strategy and was currently in the process of being
developed. Members were assured that
liaison would take place with scrutiny at the appropriate time to
consider this. Members welcomed input into the draft
strategy.
- Members asked
questions relating to communications and ensuring that conveying
Option 1 to parents and wider stakeholders was done
effectively.
- Members also
suggested that sharing information on equal provision (particularly
in relation to funding) between Welsh medium and English medium
provision be shared, to ensure that all parties were clear on this
issue.
- Members stated
that given the results of the consultation suggested a potential
‘Option 4’, the rationale behind not considering this
option be also included in communication with
stakeholders.
-
Members felt that it was critical that
parents, staff and wider stakeholders were given clear, consistent
messaging to encourage early buy-in to Option 1 and encourage a
smooth transition to the new arrangements. Officers responded that meetings had already taken
place with the Chairs of Governors and Headteachers of the schools
concerned. It was
reported that each of the schools had decided they would like to
meet their staff themselves potentially with trade union
representatives present. Staff members
of the schools involved were already aware and were aware on the
day the papers were being released.
Members were informed that HR support was in place and
opportunities were being taken to discuss the issues with staff
affected to understand their views and concerns. A previous consultation had also taken place and
this was the second time. All the
mechanisms were in place to support a challenging situation for
people. It was highlighted that the Council would respond to the
consultation with transparency and honesty.
- Members queried
staff displacement as a result of the proposals and felt it was
critical that this was handled sensitively. Officers responded
that both schools had reducing roles so they would already be
making difficult decisions about their teaching and learning
staff. In terms of the number of
classes running currently and in the new form 14 teachers would be
required (7 in each plus the nursery. Members were made aware that
there was a chance that not all staff would secure roles but they
would be given first opportunity to apply for roles and ring fenced
if the temporary governing body agreed to that.
-
Members requested that the development of
an effective, informative communications strategy be explored and
reported back to committee, a response on whether the SOP Team
would be developing such a strategy (which should include clear
information regarding the rationale for the decision; FAQs using
consultation responses as examples etc)
should be included in the response to the Chair’s
letter.
- Members
asked questions in relation to finance and viability of the Cathays
Primaries proposal and the costs in relation to the renovation of
current buildings. Officers responded that the Council was aware of
the conditions of the buildings and it presented a good reason to
bring some of the proposals forward.
Members noted that the works being undertaken were very extensive,
quite complex schemes involving listed buildings. Members were
informed that the roof works, stone works and scaffolding should be
resolved the end of the year. The Welsh
Government was providing £1.8m capital investment funding to
the existing Allensbank site and the
Council would be providing funding to the existing Gladstone and St
Monica’s Church in Wales Primary School sites to ensure they
were suitable.
- Members enquired
as to the implications and challenges of writing off deficit
budgets in two of the closed schools and asked whether there were
any financial implications in relation to the swap in
diocese. Officers responded that
deficits often occurred when there was insufficient take up of
school places. It was hoped that putting both the schools on a
stronger footing and working closely with them that their delegated
budget position would be able to be balanced, once the deficit was
written off, and be stable going forwards. Members also noted the transition money being put
into the budget to support the two schools coming together
(£60k per organisation per school) which would be tapered
down over the years to support the transition. The deficit would be
paid off from the School Organisation Planning Revenue Reserve Fund
which would be subject to the same mechanisms that funded the
programme.
RESOLVED: That the Chairperson writes to the Cabinet
Member on behalf of the Committee expressing their comments and
observations captured during the way forward