17/10/2006 - Cabinet sets out bold new future for schooling in Carlisle

A roadmap for the future of secondary education provision in and around Carlisle for years to come has been approved at a meeting of Cumbria County Council's Cabinet.

Following a public consultation over the summer which examined four possible options for school reorganisation, Cabinet has now approved plans to press ahead with 'Option 4'. Its key actions are as follows:

- Support all of the steps necessary to establish an Academy operating in line with County Council protocols and based on the site of St.Aidan’s County High School, publishing formal proposals, if and when appropriate, to secure the closure of St. Aidan’s and North Cumbria Technology College.

- Should the establishment of an Academy not come to fruition, take all necessary action to secure the closure of North Cumbria Technology College with its catchment area being added to that of St.Aidan’s County High School.

- Take all necessary action to close Lochinvar School, Longtown with effect from the end of the summer term 2008 with its catchment area being added to that of William Howard School, Brampton.

- Extend the catchment area of William Howard school to include that of Lochinvar School and increase its capacity to accommodate ex-Lochinvar pupils. Some investment will also be made in its specialist facilities.

- Support the governors of Trinity C of E Voluntary Aided School to bring about a reduction in the published number for admission to the school from 300 (10 form entry) to 240 (8 form entry) with effect from September 2008. This will decrease the school's overall capacity to 1,500 pupils.

- Support and contribute to the collective work to develop a 14-19 centre in the middle of the city to serve all young people in that age group in the Carlisle area.

- Retain Caldew School, James Rennie, Morton School and Newman School, while exploring options for further investment in their facilities.

Around 1,000 responses were received during the consultation period, which ended on September 15. Of the 825 people who expressed a preference for one of the four options, 53% supported option 4, which won more supporters than the other three options combined.

Councillor Philip Chapplehow, Cumbria County Council's cabinet member for Children's Services, said: "This is the beginning of a major change process that is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape secondary education in Carlisle. The next steps will be to ensure that all these changes are undertaken with the minimum amount of disruption and that the transition is as smooth as possible. 

"In terms of Longtown, and the closure of Lochinvar, I have already asked the Director of Children's Services to set up a senior team to look at the needs of the community in the event of the school closing. This team will look at the situation in respect of all children's services we provide, as the impact will obviously be wider than on the school alone.

"We're faced with the indisputable fact that the number of school age children in Cumbria is going to fall considerably over the next 20 years, so we need to act now to make sure the right structure is in place to make sure the county's children get the right education. What this plan is doing is ensuring that Carlisle has the correct number of schools of the right size, in the right place and with buildings fit for education in the 21st Century."

ENDS

Notes for Editors

- To deal with the question of falling school rolls across the county, in Autumn 2005 Cumbria County Council set up a School Organisation Forum under the chairmanship of former headteacher Roger Alston to carry out a major strategic review of education in the county. Carlisle is the first area to have completed its public consultation.

- A Local Partnership Group was established for the Carlisle area to look at its future educational provision.   As well as headteachers and governors, the group included representatives from district, town and parish councils, churches, further and higher education establishments, employers and MPs.

- Twenty thousand copies of the consultation document 'Planning 11-19 education for the Carlisle area' were produced.   A copy was sent to the parent or guardian of every pupil and all key partners and organisations.   It was also made available in community centres, libraries and nurseries.

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