To note the report and make recommendations to Cabinet.

Members were reminded that a strategic approach regarding school places up to and through 2035 had been formulated as a result of the Borough Local Plan. It had been noted that in 2019 the middle school provision in Windsor would be insufficient, which had prompted a recommendation to expand middle school capacity. It had been agreed in principle to expand St Peter’s CE Middle School as Dedworth Middle School was already in the process of expanding its capacity, St Edward’s Royal Free Ecumenical School had no capacity to expand further and Trevelyan Middle School did not presently wish to extend so soon after conversion to Academy status. It had been agreed in principle that £2.7million would be provided for the expansion of St Peter’s.

It was noted that there was a low response rate to the initial consultation on the proposals, and that the major finding from this was concerns relating to the impact on parking and traffic.

Cllr Jones noted that St Peter’s was the smallest middle school and stated that doing nothing to expand it was not an option. She stated that the proposals had been discussed by Old Windsor Parish Council, which had only raised concerns over the dropping-off point. Cllr Jones asked if the prioritisation model could be reviewed, as she felt that it did not take a long-term view. The Director of Children’s Services said it was difficult to forecast parental preference and there had been significant shifts in the last 18 months.

It was noted that the proposals only scored one out of ten in terms of value for money. The Director of Children’s Services explained that typically a figure of £14-15,000 per school place represented good value for money. The concerns over the impact on traffic had raised this figure to £20,000 per school place; however the Director of Children’s Services stated that it could be argued that this level of expenditure was appropriate, and that the benchmark scoring had been harsh. The Panel requested that the Cabinet paper explained why the scoring matrix had given the proposals one out of ten for value for money.

The Chairman noted that the Memorandum of Understanding only mentioned St Peter’s School’s admission policy once, and stated that changing the policy had been agreed by the school and the Diocese as part of the Academy conversion process. Cllr Wilson stated that the Memorandum of Understanding cleared up a lot of ambiguity regarding the Council’s role with Academy schools. He said however that the Memorandum of Understanding should state that the expansion of St Peter’s School would cover basic need for school places as a result of demographic growth, in order to aid public understanding. It was agreed that the Cabinet paper should be updated so that the Memorandum of Understanding should state that the expansion of St Peter’s School was to cover basic need, and for the clause about PAN to also cover wider admission arrangement changes. Members noted that it was important that parents were kept well informed about the admission policy.

The Director of Children’s Services informed Members that it was relevant Diocese’s wish for the school to serve the local community, rather than being exclusively for those of faith. However this was not the case for all Diocese.

Cllr Mills asked if the school could take responsibility for getting out the right messages about expansion and school places, rather than leaving it to the Council. The Director of Children’s Services stated his belief that there was a desire by the school to work with the Council, and this had been evidenced hitherto. He stated that it needed to be made clear that expansion was in the school’s own best interests, due to an ever-growing population, and a communications strategy was being developed to achieve this aim. The Director of Children’s Services reminded Members that more of the Royal Borough’s children than ever before were attending schools that were rated either Good or Outstanding and that in the most recent round of allocations 88 per cent of applicants were given their first preference school; by far the highest level in the last ten years.

It was agreed that the Panel noted the report and:

i) Approved a budget estimate of £2.7m and authorised the Director of Children’s Services with the Lead Member for Children’s Services to undertake procurement and enter into contracts for the delivery of the expansion of St Peter’s CE Middle School.

ii) Approved the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding: St Peter’s CE Middle School by the Director of Children’s Services.