Schools in Haverhill and the surrounding area

Consultation: Future use of surplus school sites in Haverhill town

In May 2008 Suffolk County Council’s Cabinet approved proposals to extend the age range of primary schools and upper schools by the introductions of a two tier education system in the Haverhill area. The  County Council is making a substantial financial investment to facilitate this which will enhance educational achievement and benefit all.  

The change to the two tier system will come into effect from September 2011 and will mean the closure of the middle schools and the relocation of some primary schools during the following year.  In Haverhill, this will mean the closure of Chalkstone Middle, Castle Hill Middle and Parkway Middle and the relocation of Westfield and Clements Primary Schools to new sites (during 2012). 

Proposals have already been identified for the future use of the Parkway Middle and Chalkstone Middle School sites.  Castle Hill Middle and Westfield Primary School sites are surplus with their future as yet undetermined.  We invite your views on the proposals for the Chalkstone Middle School site and the 2 surplus sites and whether alternative appropriate community uses exist for them.  Ultimately if no viable community uses are identified for these sites they will be sold and the funding reinvested in education.

Parkway Middle School site

The Parkway Middle School site will be used to provide additional accommodation for students attending Castle Manor Business and Enterprise College.

 
Chalkstone Middle School site

Suffolk County Council is proposing to build a care home on this site. It is proposed that the new care home would have 60 beds for the care and accommodation of older people with dementia and complex needs. This would include a dementia nursing service. The care home would also have the flexibility to offer intermediate and respite care services.  Further details on the proposed new home can be seen in the booklet “A new standard of care homes for older people” which is available at www.suffolk.gov.uk/carehomesconsultation2010.

Clements Primary School site

Clements Primary School is being relocated to a new site on Greenfields Way. The existing site will be transferred to St Edmundsbury Borough council and used as public open space.  Consultation on the future use of this space is being carried out jointly by St Edmundsbury Borough Council and Suffolk County Council. 

Westfield Primary and Castle Hill Middle School site

The County Council is now considering the future for both these school sites.

Criteria

Any suggestions for the future use of a site must:

• Have a long term financial plan
• Meet a recognised but unmet community need
• Have considered if the community use could be accommodated at one of the remaining schools in the area


Location of relevant Haverhill town schools and existing and proposed site plan for Chalkston Middle School site 


Consultation

A consultation evening has been arranged at Chalkstone Middle School on 30 March 2010 from 3pm to 7pm.  The relevant site plans will be available as well as other useful information to help you give your views and suggestions on the future community use of these school sites. You will also be able to hear more about the proposed use of the Chalkstone Middle School site. 

If you are unable to make this event you can also visit Haverhill Library or the  Abbeycroft leisure centre where the relevant information will be on display between 26 March and 12 April 2010.

You can give your views by:

Sending an email to: sor@suffolk.gov.uk or;

Writing to: Suffolk County Council FREEPOST NAT18364 Ipswich IP1 2BR (please mark envelopes with 'school organisation review')    


24 April 2009

The Haverhill 16-19 competition launched by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) Suffolk to improve education and training provision in Haverhill came to a close on Friday 20th March. A proposal was submitted by the “Two Counties Learning Trust”.

The LSC Suffolk are keen to encourage people to read the proposal and respond to its recommendations between now and the 5th June 2009. A local stakeholder panel will then convene to consider the proposal and any comments from the public, their decision will be reviewed and approved by the LSC Regional Board so that the outcome can be announced w/e 31st July 2009.

"Two Counties Learning Trust" bid
Haverhill 16-19 public notice

Anybody wishing to submit comments on the bid may do so via writing to:

Judith Mobbs, Area Director, LSC Suffolk
c/o Peter Mumford, Learning and Skills Council, Felaw Maltings, 42 Felaw Street, Ipswich IP2 8SJ or email: peter.mumford@lsc.gov.uk


24 June 2008 Cabinet paper

On 24 June Suffolk County Council’s Cabinet approved proposals for the future of schools in the Haverhill area.  Following the decision, plans have been implemented to manage the three-year transition period.  All of the changes will come into effect in full in September 2011.

24 June Cabinet paper
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
Appendix 4

Consultation

At the start of public consultation in October 2007 a  consultation document and questionnaire were distributed to stakeholders, including: parents, teachers, school staff, governors, teachers unions, local councillors, MPs and MEPS.  As well as the main document individual information sheets for schools in Haverhill and the surrounding area were distributed to stakeholders. The individual school page refers you to a timeline. View the timeline here.  

Some of the benefits and issues relating to the Haverhill options were identified during the consultation period.


All comments received from members of the public using the paper copy of the questionnaire have been compiled into a spreadsheet.

406 questionnaires were received from a single middle school. Comments received from this group have been analysed separately as they focused on a specific issue. 

Sustainability Assessment

A Sustainability assessment has been produced for the Haverhill options.