item 07 - Horley New School Proposals Quality of Places Analysis 11-9-12

Horley New Primary School Proposals Quality of Places Analysis Criteria for judgement The DfE has issued “Advice”, which is not statutory guidance The DfE, however, state that the analysis must be made according to paragraph 12 of the Advice “The local authority should provide the Department with an assessment of the proposals it has received, based on the following criteria:    the quality of the places being added into the system, based on the proposer‟s vision and educational plan; the capability and capacity of the proposer to deliver their proposal to time and on budget, based on their expertise and experience; value for money, confirming that the proposer considers that the costs of establishing the new academy/Free School can be met within the estimate of capital costs outlined by the local authority and, where they cannot be met within that estimate, an explanation of the reasons for the additional costs and how any shortfall will be met.” Para 12 is based on the assumption that the Proposer delivers the capital scheme as well as operates a school SCC is going to fund and build the school Therefore, the second two bullet points will not apply This means we must judge "the quality of the places being added into the system, based on the proposer‟s vision and educational plan" In order to judge quality of places, we need to interpret what we believe this means It would be reasonable to assume a wider interpretation of „quality of places‟ than whether children will receive a high quality academic education Whether the education provision would be appropriate for the target group would be a valid consideration Also, the extent to which the places are of an appropriate nature for the area We have a duty under S13A of the Education Act 1996 to exercise our functions with a view to promoting high standards, ensuring fair access to educational opportunity, and promoting the fulfilment by every child concerned of his educational potential We have a duty under S14 to secure that sufficient schools for providing primary education are available, which are sufficient in number, character and equipment to provide for all pupils the opportunity of appropriate education We have a further duty under S14 for securing diversity in the provision of schools, and increasing opportunities for parental choice There are no faith places in Horley, so we must consider provision of sufficient faith places to ensure places are "sufficient in character and to ensure sufficient diversity of places As a public body, our judgements must also comply with the Human Rights Act and the Equality Act Therefore, "quality of places" should also include a consideration of whether they will meet local needs Proposals submitted Five proposals were submitted from: The Balham School Company, Chapel St Community Schools Trust, The Regent Group, The Robert Owen Foundation, Southwark Diocesan Board of Education Summary of the organisations and the evidence of delivery of high standards The Balham School Company The Balham School Company (BSC) was jointly established by Bellevue Education Group consisting of independent primary schools in the UK and Swiss schools, and Place Group - an education services company, to bring the best of private education into the state sector They would achieve this through high quality educational experiences leading to high level pupil outcomes which will be realised through a personalised approach with each pupil and learning experiences which benefit from outstanding teaching and innovative tailored ICT provision Place Group‟s experience in Academy Conversion has been gained from successfully supporting the opening of 30+ such projects across England, and from wider experience in over 50 sponsored Academies, University Technical Colleges, Studio Schools and Free Schools Horley new NES school proposals quality analysis 10-9-12 MNB Direct experience of running schools comes from Bellevue Education Group Only of the schools were open Three schools are judged “excellent” and three “good” Assuming equivalence with Ofsted judgements, it would be good and outstanding It would be reasonable to assume that the group would be able to sustain equivalent standards in a new school, with intervention were this not to be the case Bellevue judgements are given below Skippers Hill Manor Preparatory School Set in 32 acres of idyllic countryside, Skippers Hill Manor Preparatory School is a non-selective coeducational preparatory school in East Sussex for children aged – 13 Judgement: The pupils achieve well and make good progress in their learning over time in relation to their ability at all ages within the school Weston Green School Weston Green Road, Thames Ditton, Surrey KT7 0JN Weston Green School is a Surrey based coeducational Preparatory School for pupils aged to 11 years Judgement: Weston Green is a successful school which meets its aims and provides a good quality of education Norfolk House School Norfolk House School is a leading London Preparatory School for boys and girls aged -11 Judgement: Pupils‟ achievements are excellent, fulfilling the school‟s aim to enable them to reach their academic potential and to feel valued, fulfilled, confident and emotionally secure Edenhurst Preparatory School Edenhurst Preparatory School is a co-educational, Independent Preparatory School based in Newcastle under Lyme for pupils aged – 13 Judgement: The pupils‟ overall achievement is excellent, strongly supported by the school‟s aims Brabyns Preparatory School Situated in Marple, Cheshire overlooking beautiful countryside, Brabyns Preparatory School is a coeducational, Independent Preparatory School for pupils aged 2.5 to 11 years Judgement: The quality of the pupils‟ achievement is excellent and the outcomes for children in the EYFS are good Gateway School Gateway School is a co-educational, Independent Preparatory School for pupils aged 2-12 located in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire Judgement: The educational experience provided is good Wandsworth Preparatory School Situated in close proximity to Wandsworth Common, Wandsworth Preparatory School will be opening its doors to pupils in September 2012 Skippers Hill is non-selective, but there is no evidence that the other schools are not selective A reasonable question would be to consider the extent to which this performance could be transferred from independent schools to a free school, which whilst being independent, would be required to serve a typical cross section of the community in Horley It may be prudent to require more evidence that the Bellevue performance could be successfully transferred by BSC to a non-selective school cohort in a community such as Horley Chapel St Community Schools Trust Chapel St Community Schools Trust (Chapel St) has a Christian ethos It is an approved Academy sponsor Their goal is to raise educational attainment, enhance family life and increase community cohesion and civic pride They are currently establishing free schools There is no current track record of running schools, so there are no judgements of performance Horley new NES school proposals quality analysis 10-9-12 MNB Chapel St has a School Improvement Service Staff have personal expertise of education performance The description of how the school would achieve high standards is cogent and coherent It would be reasonable to assume that the school would be able to deliver high standards The Regent Group The Regent Group (RG) is an established Education group in the UK, which manages a range of educational entities as well as an Investment Division They would raise mathematic and literacy levels whilst allowing a degree of freedom to implement some new age skills and teaching systems They would encourage critical thinking, problem solving, agility, adaptively, initiative and entrepreneurialism from a young age; qualities that they believe address a rapidly changing world RG provides secondary and post 16 provision and has a nursery There is evidence of provision of a high standard of education The RG judgements are given below Regent College Regent College Independent School & Sixth Form College is an independent, co-educational college providing education from Year to A-level Located in Harrow, in the leafy north-west London suburbs, the College offers a mix of traditional and more unique intensive courses to meet the needs of students Judgement: The quality of the curriculum provision is good and has some notably strong features Regent Nursery Judgement: Overall the quality of the provision is satisfactory A reasonable question would be to consider the extent to which RG expertise could be transferred from independent schools to a free school, which whilst being independent, would be required to serve a typical cross section of the community in Horley The nursery provision delivers the Early Years Foundation Stage, and gives evidence, therefore, of education more closely linked to primary education and it was judged only to be satisfactory It would be prudent to require greater evidence that a group with a secondary and post 16 focus could transfer its expertise to a primary school context The Robert Owen Foundation The Robert Owen Foundation (ROF) is a Co-operative organisation whose founding organisation was formed as a partnership of schools, colleges and universities Its primary aim was to collaborate in order to raise education and training standards for young people within the local area The Group‟s membership includes several hundred primary schools, which together decide policy and work towards agreed targets The children leaving the Robert Owen Horley Free School would ultimately take their place in society as co-operative citizens, able to things as well as know about them ROF does not run schools Therefore, there is no evidence of judgement of performance The description of how the school would achieve high standards is cogent and coherent ROF is an Initial Teacher Training provider, and its partner schools are in a range of contexts, including urban environments similar to Horley Therefore, it would be reasonable to assume that there would be sufficient expertise to ensure that high quality education would be delivered in its free school Southwark Diocesan Board of Education Southwark Diocesan Board of Education (SDBE) has 91 Church of England primary schools in 12 local authority areas SDBE has school in a wide range of contexts, including urban environments similar to Horley SDBE has an established track record of delivering high quality provision, and 84% of SDBE schools are currently judged by Ofsted to be good or better with 33% outstanding SDBE has a support structure for intervention where a school is not sufficiently effective SDBE also has a small number of schools which are failing to deliver a sufficiently high standard of education There are too many schools to list the judgements here It would be reasonable to assume that a SDBE school would be able to deliver a high standard of education Horley new NES school proposals quality analysis 10-9-12 MNB Quality of educational provision philosophies The proposals have different philosophies, but otherwise, there would be little to choose between them Without evidence on the effectiveness of different philosophical approaches, we would not be able to use philosophical approach as a criterion for making a decision Track record The proposers have a range of experience The Free Schools initiative is relatively new and the Government‟s aims are to increase diversity of provision, so it would be expected that many proposers would have little experience of establishing schools The proposers all have experience of running schools either through being a group of schools or through the experience of the personnel and some have limited experience of setting up schools SDBE has the greatest experience of setting up schools as a diocese which has established aided schools as well as having set up academies It would be reasonable to consider track record as a criterion, although it should be weighted carefully as were a proposal to have greater merits, but the proposer have limited experience, it would be better to support that proposer rather than opt for a proposal with less merit Conclusion Overall the SDBE proposal is assessed to be best able to provide the additional high quality places to meet the needs of the Horley area SDBE primary schools typically deliver a high quality education in similar communities to that of Horley and it is reasonable to assume a new school would also be able to so SDBE has a track record of provision of high performing schools in similar communities to that of Horley The SDBE school would also provide faith places in an area where there are none, increasing diversity of provision MNB Horley new NES school proposals quality analysis 10-9-12 MNB ... free schools There is no current track record of running schools, so there are no judgements of performance Horley new NES school proposals quality analysis 1 0-9 -1 2 MNB Chapel St has a School. .. that a SDBE school would be able to deliver a high standard of education Horley new NES school proposals quality analysis 1 0-9 -1 2 MNB Quality of educational provision philosophies The proposals. .. quality places to meet the needs of the Horley area SDBE primary schools typically deliver a high quality education in similar communities to that of Horley and it is reasonable to assume a new