7 December
2009
Changes proposed by Suffolk County Council for schools in Beccles,
Bungay/Halesworth, Leiston/Saxmundham, Mildenhall/Brandon and
Newmarket areas were given final approval by the independently
appointed Schools Adjudicator on 7 December 2009.
Twelve weeks of public consultation on options for schools in these
areas was carried out between September and December 2008. More
than 3600 people attended one of the consultation meetings,
completed a hard copy questionnaire or filled in the on line
survey.
Following approval by the County Council’s Cabinet’s to publish
statutory notices relating to the changes; people had a further six
weeks to comment on the proposals before all of the information was
forwarded to the Schools Adjudicator for a final decision.
In a statement released by the Office of the Schools Commissioner
the Schools Adjudicator concluded that he was “Persuaded by the
general case made by Suffolk County Council that changing from a
three-tier system to a two-tier system in those areas would be
likely to help improve the quality of education and represent good
value for money."
These changes will see primary schools expand to accommodate
children up to the age of 11 with secondary schools taking young
people from age 11. Middle schools in the area will close at the
end of the 2012 summer term. Letters are being sent out to parents
to keep them informed.
The School Adjudicator altered the proposed PAN for Exning Primary
School, Newmarket from 15 to 20 and for St Mary’s, Benhall from 10
to 12
A complete list of the approved
changes for each of the areas is available below:
Proposals approved by the Schools Adjudicator
5 February 2009
On 5 February 2009 Suffolk County Council’s Cabinet
considered a
paper relating to proposals for schools in
Beccles, Bungay, Leiston,
Mildenhall and
Newmarket.
Public consultation
Twelve weeks of public consultation relating to options for the
future of schools in the Beccles, Bungay and Halesworth, Leiston
and Saxmundham, Mildenhall and Brandon and Newmarket areas
ended on 15 December 2008.
Copies of the consultation booklets are
below:
Copies of the relevant consultation booklet and
questionnaire were sent to all parents within local schools,
to staff, and to every school governing body in the four
areas. Public meetings were also held at schools in
the areas.
We also asked unions, professional associations, Catholic
and Church of England Dioceses, parish and district councils and
neighbouring local authorities for their views. Copies were
also sent to local playgroups and other early years
providers.
A
Sustainability appraisal has been prepared for the Newmarket
and Mildenhall areas.
Local Stakeholder Forums
Local Stakeholder Forums met to discuss the review and to
help develop possible options to be consulted on during the Autumn
Term 2008.
Members of the Local Stakeholder Forums (LSF) include headteachers,
parents, governors, councillors and other key stakeholders.
Members of the LSFs have a variety of background information
available to them to help them discuss possible options for the
future organisation of schools in their areas.
Some of the information is available below:
Forest Heath LSF information
Beccles, Bungay and Leiston LSF
information