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RESOLVED:
 
1. 
The outcomes of the informal stage of consultation and
Equality Impact Analysis provided as Appendix 1 were
considered.

 
2. 
Whether to publish a Statutory Notice and Proposal for
the closure of Sir Thomas Abney Primary School and the amalgamation
(merger) of its student body with nearby Holmleigh Primary School was considered;
 
3. 
Proceeding to the next stage of the statutory process
by publishing the Notice, after which the Statutory Representation
Period will run from Thursday 6 February to Wednesday 5 March 2025,
was agreed.
 
4. 
Further linked proposals were noted: to reprovision the Sir Thomas Abney Primary School
Language Resource at Holmleigh Primary
School, by adding the same specialist provision there; and to
enlarge Holmleigh Primary School by
increasing its published admission number (PAN) to accommodate
pupils displaced from Sir Thomas Abney to take effect from 1
September 2025.
 
REASONS FOR DECISION
 
The recommendations are made in order to
determine the Council’s response to the consultation
proposals as follows;
 
· 
Closure of Sir Thomas Abney on 31 August 2025 and amalgamation
(merger) of the student body with nearby Holmleigh Primary School. The Published Admission
Number (PAN) for 
Holmleigh Primary School would
be increased to accommodate the displaced pupils from both
schools.  Holmleigh School would move  to the site
currently occupied by Sir Thomas Abney Primary School and special
educational resource provision added to Holmleigh.
 
Prior to determination of the initial
proposals and following the response to the public consultation,
alternatives were explored to support Sir Thomas Abney Primary
School to remain open and sustainable. These were discussed with
the School Governing Body in a series of meetings and/or
communications between 10 September 2024 and 9 January 2025. None
of these alternatives are considered by the Council to be
viable.
 
The reasons and the rationale for the
recommendation of the proposed merger and the alternatives
considered are set out in Appendix 2. 
 
These recommendations are made in accordance
with:
 
· 
Department for Education Statutory Guidance ‘Opening and
closing maintained schools’ (Oct 2024), which outlines the
options for amalgamations when undertaking school organisation
changes to two or more existing maintained schools, and
· 
Department for Education Statutory Guidance ‘Making
significant changes (‘prescribed alterations’) to
maintained schools (Oct 2024), which outlines the process for
significant changes to an existing maintained school.
 
Officers have had regard to both sets of
guidance throughout this process.
 
This proposal would mean the closure of Sir
Thomas Abney Primary School and the amalgamation (merger) of its
student body with nearby Holmleigh
Primary School at the end of the 2024/25 school year (ie. 31 August 2025). 
Holmleigh Primary School would relocate
to the current Sir Thomas Abney site from 1 September 2025, but
there is no requirement for the Council to consult on the
school’s relocation as the distance of 450 metres is less
than the statutory requirement of two miles.  Holmleigh would retain
its original school DfE registration
number as it is not a new school.
 
A separate proposal has been developed to
increase the PAN and add a specialist resource to Holmleigh Primary School, in order to secure the
continuity of the existing language resource provision currently
made at Sir Thomas Abney.  These places
will be available to the displaced children from Sir Thomas Abney
Primary School and other children. A further report will be
presented for consideration by the Mayor and Cabinet to ensure that
the required statutory process is followed.
 
DETAILS OF ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED AND
REJECTED
 
Cabinet could decide not to proceed to the
next stage of statutory consultation, in which case the Council
would not be able to proceed with the closure proposal for Sir
Thomas Abney Primary School. The Council would then have to decide
on how the school’s budget deficit would be funded beyond the
2024/25 school year, given that the school is not financially
viable and is most unlikely to see a sufficient increase in its
pupil numbers for the situation to change in the foreseeable
future.
 
Cabinet could decide to delay its decision on
proceeding to the next stage of statutory consultation, but this
would mean that the school’s financial position would be very
likely to worsen, further impacting on the quality of education for
its current pupils and leaving an even bigger budget deficit,
should the school close later than the proposed date of 31 August
2025.  Officers are convinced that any
delay would not be in the best interests of educational provision
in the area.