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RESOLVED:
 
Having considered
all of the supporting documentation, particularly the statutory
notices relating to Oldhill Community
School set out at Appendix 1A and to Harrington Hill Primary School
at Appendix 1B; the comments and objections raised by the 10
respondents at Appendix 2; the Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA)
at Appendix 3; and the report on the alternative options set out in
Appendix 4, Cabinet approved the proposals to:
 
1. 
Discontinue (close) Oldhill
Community School and amalgamate (merge) the student body with
Harrington Hill Primary School;
 
2. 
Increase Harrington Hill Primary School from 1 form of
entry (1FE) to 2 forms of entry (2FE) and to add additional
resourced provision (ARP) for autistic children.
 
REASONS FOR DECISION
 
The recommendation is made in order to
determine the Council’s response to the 28 Day Statutory
Notices issued on 6 February 2025 attached as Appendix 1A and
Appendix 1B. This recommendation has been put forward after
Officers considered a number of alternative options set out in the
attached Appendix 4.
 
The proposals above are recommended to Cabinet
in light of the following viability issues facing Oldhill Community School;
 
· 
a declining pupil roll;
· 
a lack of pupils now applying to the school;
· 
evidence to show there is little prospect of a material increase in
the numbers of pupils within the pupil place planning area in the
medium to long term, and
· 
the school’s unrecoverable budget deficit.
 
DETAILS OF ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED AND
REJECTED
 
Cabinet could decide not to proceed with the
closure proposal for Oldhill Community
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 it is not financially viable and is very
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
school closure, but this would mean that the School’s
financial position would 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. Delaying the decision would not be in the
best interest of children and families or education provision in
the area because Oldhill Community
School’s worsening financial position would make it
increasingly more challenging to provide pupils with a rounded
education that meets their academic, social and emotional
needs.
 
The Council considered a number of alternative
options set out in Appendix 4.