NCC Recommendations to Cabinet April 2018

Dear Parents and Carers

This morning we received a 123 page document from Northumberland County Council which explains to the Council Cabinet the outcomes of the informal consultation about the future of education in the west of Northumberland.

In summary the main points of the document are as follows:

Recommendations for cabinet:

Haydon Bridge Partnership

  • Keep Haydon Bridge High School open as an 11-18 Secondary school and fund £1.54m to support the school for at least 3 years, the school would come back under NCC control for at least 3 years or until a new sponsor can be found. A new local authority interim executive board would be appointed.
  • First schools in Haydon bridge partnership age range would be extended to make them primary schools but none will close.
  • Bellingham Middle School would close.
  • No mention of other schools in the Haydon Bridge Partnership which are academies.
  • From 1st September Haydon Bridge Secondary School would only admit children from year 7.

 

Hexham Partnership

  • There are no proposed changes to school organisation in relation to the Hexham Partnership.
  • No schools in the Hexham Partnership will close as a direct result of this consultation.
  • No age ranges will change at schools in the Hexham Partnership.
  • NCC will establish a resilience programme through encouraging the establishment or federations of school to support small rural schools to be financially viable and educationally viable.
  • Local Authority will establish a Multi Academy trust in partnership with other public sector organisations.
Hadrian Learning Trust
  • The buildings of HLT require significant capital investment. Cabinet is asked to instruct officers to begin working with HLT to establish a proposal for redevelopment of the existing schools on the existing sites.
  • Council officers should advise the Regional Schools Commissioner and Hadrian Learning Trust that the council cannot support the change in age range and that the proposed change is not supported by the vast majority of schools in the local community.

 

In short:

  • Haydon Bridge will remain open which will ensure choice and avoid having a 2250 plus super school in Hexham 
  • In Hexham none of the planned closures will happen and the school system will remain 3 tier as it is now.

 

The schools will continue to work closer than ever to be successful and further develop what is in Hexham a very successful schools partnership.

 

CFS stated they were unable to support any of the 3 proposals that NCC had put forward so we are obviously pleased with the details of this report, we also are quoted in the report: “Building on and formalising partnerships is the best way forward. We believe a viable, long term solution which addresses the individual challenges can be implemented over time and as necessary with schools and organisations working together.” We will continue to be very committed to achieving this.

 

The Governors will meet soon to review these outcomes and a formal response. We will continue discussions about the future of Corbridge Church of England First School, preparing plans for a range of possible outcomes while continually remaining focus on the best for our learners. We will continue to research academies, federations and explore how to build  on our already strong partnerships.

 

If anyone has any questions regarding the NCC response please contact via email:

 

admin@corbridgefirst.northumberland.sch.uk 


Responses will be given as soon as possible.

 

Kind regards

Andrew Neal

Chair of Governors

Corbridge First School