Subject: Status: For Publication Kingsway Park High School National Challenge Trust Status: Proposed Change of Category of School and Trust Formation 14th June 2010 Report to: Cabinet Date: Report of: Head of Schools Service Report Author Email: Chris.swift@rochdale.gov.uk Tel: 01706 925049 Cabinet Member: Comments from Statutory Officers: Key Decision: Forward Plan Section 151 Officer Monitoring Officer comments included comments included Yes yes PURPOSE OF REPORT 1.1 The purpose of this report is to inform Members of the outcome of the consultation on change of school category undertaken by Kingsway Park Temporary Governing Body, and to propose the establishment of a new Trust for the school through the formation of a limited company in partnership with Middleton Technology School and Rochdale Sixth Form College RECOMMENDATIONS 2.1 It is recommended that: Members note the outcomes of consultation by Kingsway Park Temporary Governing Body (TGB) on National Challenge Trust status for the school, and recommends to the TGB the publication of proposals for the change of category of school with the acquisition of National Challenge Trust school status Further that Members support the establishment of a new Trust, in partnership with Version Number: Page: of Middleton Technology School and Rochdale Sixth Form College, (the Partners) by the formation of a limited company MAIN TEXT INCLUDING ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED/ CONSULTATION CARRIED OUT 3.1 In April 2009 Informal Cabinet agreed to the submission of a Statement of Intent to the Department for Education (DfE) to establish Kingsway Park as a National Challenge Trust School Additional resources of £732,000 are now available to support the establishment of Kingsway Park and the work of the two predecessor schools, conditional on Kingsway Park becoming a National Challenge Trust School 3.2 The route to achieving National Challenge Trust status has been subject to discussion between the Local Authority and the DfE, because of the existing approval to establish the new secondary school Consideration had been given last year (2009) to publish revocation proposals for the existing approval and then for the new Trust to publish fresh proposals to establish the new school as a national challenge school from September 2010 The view of the Local Authority is that such an approach would have undermined school and community confidence coming so close after consultation on bringing forward the date of opening for the new school 3.3 The Local Authority has a statutory duty to implement the existing approval, and also needs to comply with the condition imposed by the Secretary of State in 2007 for the new school to be a foundation school with Trust status Kingsway Park High School, therefore, will open in September 2010 as a foundation school with a minority trust governing body 3.4 The DfE has approved the National Challenge School Improvement Plan submitted by the Local Authority and the Partners A condition of this additional funding is that the new school becomes a National Challenge Trust school The Local Authority has worked with the TGB to undertake the necessary consultation on this matter, so that this condition can be met, as well as working with the Partners to establish the Trust itself 3.5 The central matter here is the nature of the new Trust proposed along with the implications for school governance and the Local Authority response to the National Challenge The original intention (in the published and approved statutory proposal) was for the new school to be a foundation school with a minority trustthat is where the Trust appoints governors to the governing Body The temporary governing body is therefore structured on this model To change this, there has to be consultation on a change of category for the school, from a foundation school with a minority of governors appointed by a Trust to a foundation school with a majority governance Trust A copy of the explanatory consultation letter is attached as Appendix One 3.6 The new Trust proposal is Rochdale’s response to the National Challenge, whereby each Local Authority sets out clear proposals to ensure that at least 30% of pupils in all secondary schools achieve or more GCSE (A*-C) including English and mathematics This means a different type of Trust is needed The National Challenge is a school improvement and intervention initiative which is intended to drive up standards in schools quickly To achieve this, the new Trust needs to be led by strong education partners, supported by a majority governance model (i.e where the Trust appoints the majority of the governing body) Version Number: Page: of 3.7 Consultation undertaken/proposed: The Temporary Governing Body (TGB) has initiated the statutory consultation on the change of category of school That consultation concluded on 19th April 2010, and involved parents and potential parents of pupils at Balderstone and Springhill, as well as all Rochdale Township schools, trades unions and diocesan authorities The full consultation documentation is available on the new school websitehttp://www.kingswaypark.org The documentation identifies the Trust Partners as Middleton Technology School, Rochdale Sixth Form College and Rochdale Local Authority 3.8 Public consultation meetings have been held by the TGB, and some responses have been received These were supportive of the new Trust proposals The TGB will consider a report on the outcomes of the proposal with a view to making a recommendation to the permanent governing body for the school when it is set up in September 2010 3.9 Establishment of a new Trust for Kingsway Park High School: Draft memorandum and articles of association for the Trust have been prepared with support from Legal Services, based on the DfE Trust School model The draft has now been considered by the Governing Bodies of both Middleton Technology School and Rochdale Sixth Form College Both Governing Bodies support the proposal, including the name of the new Trust as “Kingsway Learning Trust Limited” 3.10 The draft follows the DCSF Model, but there are three specific points that have been included, and have been agreed with the Partners: • • • In section 3- “Objects”- this is written so that the Trust is not limited to Kingsway Park HS and can act as the Trust/foundation for other schools; In section 4- “Powers”- two important additions are made here- firstly, the power to approve the School Improvement Plan for Kingsway Park- so that Middleton Technology School GB and the Sixth Form College Corporation and the LA themselves are not responsible for standards in the schools- it is the Trust which has that accountability Secondly, with an eye to the future, the power for the Trust to be the promoter of a new school The circumstances are not defined, but if there was a legally new school opening the Trust could be the promoter; In section 10- “Membership”- the wording limits future membership of the Trust to organisations, and so it would not be open to individual personal membership The model guidance provides a choice here, and as an intervention led initiative the strength of the Trust is in the education focus of the partners and their organisations and through the Trust their accountability for standards in the school 3.11 The Trust company would have Directors- two appointed by Middleton Technology School Governing Body, two appointed by Rochdale Sixth Form College Governing Body, and one appointed by Rochdale MBC 3.12 Implementation of the proposals: The TGB has made a recommendation to the new governing body in September 2010 that it publishes statutory proposals for a change in category for the new school This will lead to a week representation period and a final determination of the proposal by the end of November Proposals for the composition of the Trust have to be included in the statutory proposals 3.13 The new company would be formed later this year, with the partners nominating the first directors, ready for the Trust to undertake its responsibilities, including the Version Number: Page: of selection and appointment of governors for the new national challenge trust school governing body FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS 4.1 The DCSF will provide total additional funding to the Local Authority of £732,000 in financial years 2009-10 (£118k) and 2010-11 (£614k) for the two current schools (Balderstone Technology College and Springhill High School) and Kingsway Park conditional on the school becoming a national challenge trust school LEGAL IMPLICATIONS 5.1 There are no specific legal implications for the Authority with regard to the change in status from a foundation school with a minority trust representation on the governing body to a foundation with a majority representation from the trust on the governing body 5.2 The proposed Trust would hold the land and property on trust for the school, it would appoint the majority of governors on the governing body, and is able to provide other support to the school as set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association PERSONNEL IMPLICATIONS 6.1 The personnel implications are the same as with the establishment of the new school as a Foundation School- that is the Governing Body will be the employer of staff RISK ASSESSMENT IMPLICATIONS 7.1 All the issues raised and the recommendation(s) in this report involve risk considerations as set out below: The additional financial resources for Kingsway Park identified in paragraph 4.1 are conditional on the school acquiring National Challenge Trust status Sue Brown Head of Schools Service There are no background papers to this report Version Number: Page: of APPENDIX ONE KINGSWAY PARK HIGH SCHOOL PROPOSAL TO BECOME A NATIONAL CHALLENGE TRUST SCHOOL This letter has been sent to tell you about a change to the new school to replace Balderstone and Springhill secondary schools Dear Sir/Madam, The change is to make Kingsway Park a National Challenge Trust School so that it can raise and maintain higher standards by working with education partners The only real change to what is already planned and agreed is that the new Trust would appoint the majority of the governors The Council already has agreement to set up the new school with a new Trust appointing a minority of governors The change does not affect applications for places in the new school The change does not affect staffing arrangements for the new school A summary of the proposal is on the next page of this letter, and the full consultation document is available on the new school website- http://www.kingswaypark.org The governors and the Local Authority believe that this change will help improve standards at Kingsway Park by setting up a close working partnership with strong education partners and by making sure that parents have more of a say in the new school The Temporary Governing Body of Kingsway Park High School is leading this proposed change and wants to hear your views Meetings have been set up where this change will be explained and where you will be able to ask questions If you want to comment on the proposal please so by 19th April 2010 Yours Faithfully, Chris Swift School Re-organisation Manager This letter has been sent to: Parents & Carers, staff, governors and students at Balderstone Technology College; Parents & Carers, staff, governors and students at Springhill High School; Parents & Carers of children in Rochdale township primary schools; Secondary and Primary schools in Rochdale township; Secretaries of recognised Trades Unions; Greater Manchester Learning and Skills Council; Local Members of Parliament; local Councillors; Manchester and Salford Diocesan Authorities; South Rochdale Innovation Trust Neighbouring Local Authorities Version Number: Page: of KINGSWAY PARK HIGH SCHOOL PROPOSED CHANGE OF CATEGORY SUMMARY OF THE PROPOSAL Kingsway Park will open as a foundation school in September 2010 It will have governors appointed by a new Trust (a minority of the governors) The Temporary Governing Body of Kingsway Park proposes to change the category of Kingsway Park High School from a foundation school without a foundation, to a foundation school with a Foundation (that is, acquire a majority Trust) The difference between the two categories of school is that in a school without a foundation, Trust partners appoint governors, whereas in a school with a Foundation, the Trust appoints the majority of the governors in accordance with government regulations There are no other changes The new Trust will be made up of three education partners- Middleton Technology School, Rochdale Sixth Form College and Rochdale Local Authority The Trust will take decisions for the general direction of the school It will hold the land and buildings on trust for the Kingsway Park and will appoint the majority of the governors Parents will make up one third of the total governing body The Trust will make sure that standards in the new school improve in line with an agreed improvement plan The governing body of Kingsway Park will be the employer of staff It will be responsible for the organisation and management of the school The National Challenge aims at making sure standards improve in secondary schools so that more than 30% of students achieve more than GCSE’s at A*-C including English and maths For Parents, a new Parent Council will be set up to make sure the views of parents are taken into account by the school For students, admissions for new Year places at Kingsway Park this September are not affected by the change, and current students in Balderstone and Springhill will transfer automatically to Kingsway Park For Staff, there are no changes to the proposed staffing arrangements for the new school 10 Timetable for the proposal: this consultation will be for weeks, after which the Kingsway Park Temporary Governing Body will consider responses and make a recommendation for the new Governing Body in September 2010 If the new governing Body agrees with the proposal it will publish statutory proposals in September, with a further week representation period before the Governing Body takes a final decision in November If agreed the change in status would be from 1st January 2011 11 For more information go to http://www.kingswaypark.org , or you can come to one of these meetings: 6-7 p.m Tuesday 16th March in the main Hall at Springhill High School, or 6-7 p.m Wednesday 17th March in the main Hall at Balderstone Technology College 12 Printed copies of the additional information are available from me at the address below, or from the Reception desks at Springhill and Balderstone 13 If you want to make comments- send them by 5.00pm on 19th April 2010 You can it online at http://www.kingswaypark.org or e-mail to chris.swift@rochdale.gov.uk or by letter to Chris Swift, School Re-organisation Manager, Schools Service, PO Box 70, Municipal Offices, Smith Street, Rochdale, OL16 1YD 14 After the consultation closes, a summary of responses and the Temporary Governing body recommendations will be posted on the Kingsway Park website Chris Swift, for Kingsway Park Temporary Governing Body 8th March 2010 Version Number: Page: of ... establishment of Kingsway Park and the work of the two predecessor schools, conditional on Kingsway Park becoming a National Challenge Trust School 3.2 The route to achieving National Challenge Trust status. .. Authorities Version Number: Page: of KINGSWAY PARK HIGH SCHOOL PROPOSED CHANGE OF CATEGORY SUMMARY OF THE PROPOSAL Kingsway Park will open as a foundation school in September 2010 It will have governors... Governing body recommendations will be posted on the Kingsway Park website Chris Swift, for Kingsway Park Temporary Governing Body 8th March 2010 Version Number: Page: of