Statutory Consultation on the Proposed Change of Age Range at Fladbury C of E First School

The Governing Body of Fladbury C of E First School is proposing to change the age range from 4-9 to 3-11 from 1^st September 2025. 

The Governing Body can propose this change and the decision maker for a change of this type is the Local Authority. Any proposed changes at voluntary schools must be published, and an adequate representation period provided to allow interested parties to comment on the proposal before a decision is made.

The four-week representation period will run from Monday 2^nd September 2024 and will close at noon on Sunday 29^th September 2024. Details of the proposal and response form can be found below, and responses must be made via the online link by the closing date of the representation period.

For more information on how the conversion will impact us at Fladbury, please see the slides that were shared during the consultation evening on Wednesday 11th September.  

 

Statutory Proposal and Public Notice

Fladbury First School Consultation Document and Public Notice document

If you wish to make comments on this proposal, responses must be received by noon on Sunday 29^th September 2024.

If you wish to make a response to this proposal, an online survey can be accessed via the QR Code below or go to the Worcestershire County Council Pershore Review webpage. If you are unable to access the online response form, please email the school office for a hardcopy form.  You can return by post to the school office.

 

 

Online Survey QR Code

 

 

 

 

Further details of the wider Pershore area school proposals can be found at the Worcestershire County Council Pershore Review webpage.

(This page was last updated 29 August 2024)

 

 

 

Changes to the school system in Pershore Education Planning Area 
(Pershore EPA - a.k.a. 'Pershore Pyramid')

This page was last updated in December 2023.

The Department for Education (DfE) have concluded the full feasibility study for Pershore High School, determining that additional places for all Year 7 pupils in Pershore could be created at the school with additional accommodation and improvements.  This work can take place alongside the partial School Rebuilding Programme already approved by the DfE. 

The Local Authority and DfE teams have been working together to share indicative timelines for the works required at all schools to make the necessary accommodation changes for the required change of age ranges to take place, subject to necessary approval.  

The earliest all the Year 7 pupils could be accommodated at Pershore High School is September 2027.  

We will meet with relevant education stakeholders in the New Year to discuss our next steps including timescales.

 

 

Background Summary:
In Autumn 2021, a public consultation was held seeking views on the conversion of the Pershore Pyramid to a 2-tier educational model. As part of these changes, all remaining First Schools in the area would convert to primary and middle schools would either convert or amalgamate with their co-located first school, e.g. St Nicholas Middle & Pinvin First.

With the proposed conversion to 2-tier, Fladbury would increase our offering to include school years 5 & 6. Children would then transition to Perhsore High School [PHS] for Y7 (currently pupils typically fed into St Nick's middle school in Pinvin for Y5-7, transferring to PHS in Y8). PHS would need investment to expand their Y7 capacity - they have traditionally taken pupils from Y8 but recently began taking a limited number into Y7 from primary schools which are part of the same Academy group.

The overall response from the consultation was supportive, with parents preferring faster plans for transition.

The consultation results were discussed at Worcester County Council's Cabinet meeting on 21st April 2022, which approved the motion to support the change subject to the necessary funding being identified. The minutes of the meeting with supporting documents can be accessed here. You can also watch the webcast recording of the meeting (topic starts at 27m25s through to the end of the meeting - about 12 minutes duration)

Those wanting to understand the full details should review these documents:

• Fladbury Changes Summary Document (prepared by Fladbury and shared with Parents in Autumn 2021)
   
• Pershore Consultation Appendix 1-7 (from WCC Cabinet meeting on 21st Aug 2021)
  Area Map, summary tables of schools, Surplus Places, historical numbers for converted primaries & middle schools
   
• Pershore Consultation Appendix 8 (from WCC Cabinet meeting on 21st Aug 2021)
  Collated results of public consultation survey - Summary across all schools first, then answers per school
   

In the WCC Cabinet meeting in April, Marcus Hart the Cabinet Member for Education, said funding needed to be secured by September 2022 to avoid delays to the schedule. He said that if funding is identified later, then the earliest the change would likely happen would be Sept 2025. At present (September 2022) we are not aware of any progress being made on securing funding, so we cannot confirm if and when any changes will take place. We are working on the assumption that it is unlikely Fladbury will provide Year 5/6 until September 2025 at the earliest - There remains a slim chance that if the funding questions are solved, and there is a coordinated push, that changes could still happen in time for September 2024, but this is looking ever more unlikely as time goes by. 

We will update parents as soon as we have any news on the process as we understand ad appreciate this uncertainty is very frustrating. Until changes are confirmed, parents should ensure they apply for a middle school place at the appropriate time.