Agenda item

This report sets out the draft education estates strategy for the three-year period 2022-2025. The strategy aims to minimise Council borrowing to an absolute minimum whilst fulfilling the council’s statutory duty for sufficiency of school places.

The Executive Mayor in Cabinet is recommended to

School Admissions:

1.1 agree to the proposed community schools’ Admission Arrangements for the 2024/25 academic year (Appendix 1).

1.2 approve the continued adoption of the proposed Pan London scheme for coordination of admissions to Reception and Junior schools – Appendix 1a; and adoption of the proposed Pan London scheme for co-ordination of admissions to secondary schools (Appendix 1b).

School Place Planning

1.3 Approve the Capital Programme Budget summary (Appendix 3).

1.4 School Maintenance and Compliance

Approve the proposed Schools’ Maintenance Plan (Appendix 4) for 2023/24 with an overall budget cost of £4,580,016; and £3,191,514 for 2024/25.

1.6 Delegate authority to the Interim Corporate Director – Children, Young People and Education to vary the proposed Schools’ Maintenance Plan to reflect actual prices and new urgent issues that may arise, including authorising spend against the allowance for emergency and reactive works. The Corporate Director, Children, Young People and Education shall report back to the Executive Mayor in Cabinet in respect of any exercise of such authority.

The Executive Mayor in Cabinet is asked to note the following:

School Place Planning

1.7 Comparison between the available school places vs 2022 School Capacity (SCAP) Pupil Projections – Appendix 2 (primary) and Appendix 2a secondary).

1.8 Managing Surplus School Places

The local authority is working in partnership with partners to discuss and agree a collective strategy to manage the high level of surplus school places in some primary schools.

1.9 The proposed reduction of All Saints Primary School, Published Admission Number from 60 to 30, with effect from September 2024.

Academy Conversion

1.9 The change of status to an academy for the following schools:

• Orchard Way Primary School from 1 April 2022

• The Minster Junior School from 1 April 2022

• The Minster Infant and Nursery School from 1 September 2022

• Coloma Convent Girls' School from 1 November 2022

1.10 Early Years

• Croydon Childcare Sufficiency Assessment 2022 (Appendix 5) which measures the demand for, and supply of childcare across the borough.

1.11 Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)

Provision sufficiency for children and young people with complex SEND remains a challenge. We continue to develop provision in line with the planned expansion and are addressing the areas of need in addition to this. The use of robust data to inform medium to long term planning to meet demand is now much more accurate.

1.12 Alternative Provision / Pupil Referral Unit (PRU)

• We have received from the DfE the Academy Order for the proposed conversion to an academy of Saffron Valley Collegiate (SVC) Pupil Referral Unit. The intended date of conversion is the 1st April 2023.

• Additional demand for Alternative Provision places is met by commissioning suitable places via our Approved Alternative Provision Provider List.

Cabinet considered a report, which set out the draft education estates strategy for the three-year period 2022-2025.  It was reported that the Strategy aimed to minimise Council borrowing to an absolute minimum whilst fulfilling the Council’s statutory duty for sufficiency of school places.

The proposals outlined in the report would ensure that the Council was compliant with its school place planning duties (Sections 13 and 14 to the Education Act 1996) to promote high standards of education and fair access to education; secure provision for children with SEN; and to respond to parental preference.

The Executive Mayor said that the recommendations in the report were set out to ensure that the Council was compliant with its statutory duties as an education authority and, as such, he was pleased to agree the recommendations.

The Executive Mayor, in Cabinet, RESOLVED that:

In Respect of School Admissions:

1.            The proposed community schools’ Admission Arrangements for the 2024/25 academic year (Appendix 1 to the report), be approved.

2.            The continued adoption of the proposed Pan London scheme for coordination of admissions to Reception and Junior schools (Appendix 1a to the report); and adoption of the proposed Pan London scheme for co-ordination of admissions to secondary schools (Appendix 1b to the report), be approved.

In Respect of School Place Planning:

3.            The Capital Programme Budget summary (Appendix 3 to the report), be approved.

School Maintenance and Compliance

4.            That the proposed Schools’ Maintenance Plan (Appendix 4) for 2023/24, with an overall budget cost of £4,580,016; and £3,191,514 for 2024/25, be approved.

5.            That the Interim Corporate Director for Children, Young People and Education be authorised to vary the proposed Schools’ Maintenance Plan to reflect actual prices and new urgent issues that may arise, including authorising spend against the allowance for emergency and reactive works (the Corporate Director, Children, Young People and Education shall report back to the Executive Mayor in Cabinet in respect of any exercise of such authority.)

The Executive Mayor, in Cabinet, NOTED that:

In Respect of School Place Planning

6.            Comparison between the available school places vs 2022 School Capacity (SCAP) Pupil Projections (Appendix 2 (primary) and Appendix 2a (secondary) to the report.

Managing Surplus School Places

7.            The local authority is working in partnership with partners to discuss and agree a collective strategy to manage the high level of surplus school places in some primary schools.

8.            The proposed reduction of All Saints Primary School, Published Admission Number from 60 to 30, with effect from September 2024.

Academy Conversion

9.            The change of status to an academy for the following schools:

• Orchard Way Primary School from 1 April 2022

• The Minster Junior School from 1 April 2022

• The Minster Infant and Nursery School from 1 September 2022

• Coloma Convent Girls' School from 1 November 2022

Early Years

10.         Croydon Childcare Sufficiency Assessment 2022(Appendix 5 to the report) which measured the demand for, and supply of childcare across the borough.

Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)

11.         Provision sufficiency for children and young people with complex SEND remained a challenge.

(The Council continued to develop provision in line with the planned expansion and was addressing the areas of need in addition to this.  The use of robust data to inform medium to long-term planning to meet demand was now much more accurate.)

Alternative Provision / Pupil Referral Unit (PRU)

12.         The Council had received from the DfE, the Academy Order for the proposed conversion to an academy of Saffron Valley Collegiate (SVC) Pupil Referral Unit. The intended date of conversion was 1 April 2023.

13.         Additional demand for Alternative Provision places was met by commissioning suitable places via the Council’s Approved Alternative Provision Provider List.