Agenda item

Cabinet Member: Cabinet Member for Children, Young People & Learning, Councillor Alisa Flemming

Officer: Interim Executive Director Children, Families & Education, Debbie Jones

Key decision: yes

RESOLVED: To

1.    Consider the representations made in response to the statutory notice and consultations regarding the proposed closure of Virgo Fidelis Convent Senior School from August 2021; and

2.    Approve the proposed closure of Virgo Fidelis Convent Senior School from August 2021.

The Cabinet Member for Children, Young People & Learning, Councillor Alisa Flemming, informed Members that the report recommended the closure of Virgo Fidelis Convent Senior School, which was a Roman Catholic voluntary aided secondary school for girls aged 11 to 18 years old and was based in Upper Norwood.

The school’s Interim Executive Board in consultation with the council and the Archdiocese of Suffolk had agreed to undertake a statutory consultation on the proposed closure from August 2021 due to the state of repair of the buildings, the pupil roll consistently decreasing during the previous seven years and the school budget deficit being significant.

The Cabinet Member confirmed that the consultation had taken place and the majority of respondents were opposed to the proposed closure with the three main reasons being; the loss of a catholic school in the area, the reduction in single sex schools in the borough and the history attached to the school. It was noted by the Cabinet Member that there was another catholic school in the borough, St Mary’s Catholic High School, and there were two single sex schools for girls in the borough, including Norbury Manor Business & Enterprise College which was in close proximity.

The Cabinet Member for Croydon Renewal, Councillor Stuart King, noted that at paragraph 6.7 of the report that there was a requirement for the council to take on the schools deficit following closure and requested assurance that while the school was running that the deficit was being managed and would be as small as possible. In response, the Interim Director of Education & Youth Engagement, Shelley Davies, confirmed the council was in regular contact with the Interim Executive Board and the school’s leadership team to ensure the deficit was kept as low as possible as it was understood that this would impact the council. Legal advice would also be sought in relation to the deficit and what support was available.

The Leader noted that the school was the second school in recent years to be put forward for closure and queried whether horizon scanning was taking place to understand whether there were any other schools which could face similar challenges. The Interim Director confirmed that strong processes had been put in place in the previous 18 months to monitor schools which had submitted a deficit and regular meetings took place with those schools. Detailed information was requested from schools so that the council could understand why there were deficits and plans were required to be submitted which outlined how they would manage the school within budget. It was stated that there were a number of schools in the borough which had submitted deficits but that she and the Head of Finance for Children, Families & Education, Kate Bingham, were meeting those schools regularly to both provide a level of challenge and support.

The Shadow Cabinet Member for Children, Young People & Learning, Councillor Maria Gatland, noted that the council had little choice but to consult on the proposed closure of the school as pupils no longer had access to a full curriculum and the school buildings were unsafe. Despite the situation, the Shadow Cabinet Member recognised the concerns raised as disruption to pupils education would be experienced and parent choice would be compromised. It was recognised that there were spaces at St Mary’s Catholic High School, but the Shadow Cabinet Member queried how this would work as the school was a mixed school. Additionally, the Shadow Cabinet Member noted the school had been running a deficit for a number of years and queried why this had not been tackled earlier.

In response, the Cabinet Member recognised there would be disruption for pupils moving from a single sex school to a mixed school and thanked the Principle of St Mary’s Catholic High School for his support. Conversations would be held with each family to take into consideration their preferences when placing children into a new school. The Cabinet Member confirmed that horizon scanning was taking place to ensure that other schools were not in a similar position of returning deficits but the delay with Virgo Fidelis had been due to the council working with the school to deliver a catholic school in the north of the borough and plans had been developed, however the safety of children was paramount and the buildings were deemed unfit for use. Furthermore, the Cabinet Member stated that when the Interim Executive Board had been asked whether there was scope to keep the school open and reduce the deficit the response had been that it was no longer viable and as such the proposal before Cabinet had been developed collectively with diocese.

The Interim Director added that due to the poor repair of the school, some children had already been moved to St Mary’s Catholic High School and were being taught in a single sex area of the school; this had ensured that the pupils would receive their education in one school until they finished their GCSEs. In terms of in-year admissions, work would begin only if Cabinet approved the closure. The council would then work with each family in terms of the type of school they were looking for and where there were places available. Additionally, as Virgo Fidelis was based on the borough boundary, the Interim Director advised that the council would seek to work with partners in neighbouring boroughs should parents wish to explore other alternatives. It was recognised that moving children was never an easy option but the Interim Director stressed that a lot of work had taken place with the Interim Executive Board and diocese in coming to the decision to propose the closure of the school.

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions:

RESOLVED: To

1.     Consider the representations made in response to the statutory notice and consultations regarding the proposed closure of Virgo Fidelis Convent Senior School from August 2021; and

2.     Approve the proposed closure of Virgo Fidelis Convent Senior School from August 2021.