Suffolk County Council is reviewing the way schools are organised
in the county.
An Introduction to the School Organisation Review.
Since the 1970s about half the schools in Suffolk have been
organised into a three-tier system with middle schools taking
children aged 9 to 13.
In 2006 Suffolk County Council began a review of its school system.
This review found that children in the three-tier system made less
progress than similar children in the two-tier system. The findings
of this review can be found in the Policy Development Panel
Report.
This review recommended that the Council began a review of school
organisation in Suffolk with a preferred option of a two- tier
system of Primary and Secondary School education. This was approved
by the County Council in 2007.
The focus of the review is raising attainment and creating a school
system that is sustainable in the future.
Since 2007, there have been major changes in the world which have
affected the funding available to the County Council. The Council
remains committed to the School Organisation Review and has adapted
the timetable to reflect the new circumstances. The current
timetable is set out below.
Background to Middle Schools
Until the 1964 Education Act primary schools took children up to
age 11 and secondary schools took them from the age of 11
onwards.
Factors which led to the law being changed and middle schools being
created were:
- The abolition of the 11+, which removed any common point of
assessment.
- Raising the school leaving age from 15 to 16 in 1973 required
additional school places; in some areas the places needed were
provided in new middle schools.
- The Plowden report which suggested children should remain in
primary schools until they were 12.
In 1981 there were over 1800 middle schools in nearly 50 local
education authorities. These middle schools had various age ranges
starting at 7 and going up to 13.
The first large scale closures of middle schools began in 1981.
Factors which led to the demise of middle schools were:
- Falling rolls in secondary schools leading to some schools not
being viable
- The introduction in the National Curriculum in 1988 with
schools being accountable for children’s progress at age 7, 11 and
13 as well as GCSE at age 16.
In September 2010, just 230 middle schools will open for a new
academic year – fewer than at any time since 1971. The number looks
set to fall yet further. If all of the authorities which currently
have plans to withdraw middle schools achieve their aims, by 2015
there could be as few as 100 middle schools remaining.
The Timetable for SOR in Suffolk
|
Date |
Key Event |
|
Oct 2007 - Jan 2008 |
Public consultation in Haverhill and Lowestoft |
|
March 2008 |
Cabinet approves publication of proposals for Haverhill and
Lowestoft |
|
June 2008 |
Cabinet approves school changes in Haverhill |
|
Sept 2008 - Dec 2008 |
Public consultation in Beccles, Bungay, Leiston, Mildenhall and
Newmarket |
|
February 2009 |
Schools Adjudicator approves school changes in
Lowestoft |
|
Sept 2009 - Dec 2009 |
Public consultation in Sudbury and Great Cornard |
|
December 2009 |
Schools Adjudicator approves school changes in Beccles, Bungay,
Leiston, Mildenhall and Newmarket |
|
May 2010 |
Cabinet approves school changes in Sudbury and Great
Cornard |
|
September 2010 |
No admission to middle schools in Haverhill or
Lowestoft |
|
September 2011 |
Middle schools close in Haverhill and Lowestoft
New high school opens in Lowestoft
New sixth form college opens in Lowestoft
No admission to middle schools in Beccles, Bungay, Leiston,
Mildenhall and Newmarket |
|
Oct - Dec 2011 |
Public consultation in Thurston |
|
January 2012 |
Cabinet approves publication of proposals for
Thurston |
|
September 2012 |
Middle schools close in Beccles, Bungay, Leiston, Mildenhall and
Newmarket
No admission to middle schools in Sudbury and Great
Cornard |
|
September 2013 |
Middle schools close in Sudbury and Great Cornard |
|
September 2014 |
Middle schools close in Thurston |
The government's funding arrangements for school buildings beyond
2011/12 await the outcome of the James' Review and the decisions
and guidance that result from it. We will therefore have to plan
the School Organisation Review in a different way for Stowmarket,
Stowupland, Thurston and Bury St Edmunds. We will now work more
closely with the Department of Education to use all the new
opportunities which have arisen since the new government came to
power, to improve the standard of education across Suffolk -
including the potential for academies and free schools where they
help to raise standards. Funding remains in place for the first
three phases of School Organisation Review, where the county
council has already consulted and approved proposals. Plans remain
unaffected in these areas.
In response to the wishes of the first and high schools in the
Thurston area to change to a two-tier structure, sufficient capital
funding has been secured to implement a change if supported by
consultation. Consultation will take place during the autumn term
2011, followed by the publication of statutory notices in the
spring of 2012. Changes would not begin to come into effect until
September 2013