Nine into one to create academy

Jan 25 2008 by Dave Black, The Journal

NINE schools are set to close in two neighbouring Northumberland towns to pave the way for a £45m investment in creating the county’s second privately-sponsored city academy.

Serious concerns were voiced last night over the proposed all-age academy, which would have sites in Ashington and Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, catering for 2,725 students and jointly sponsored by the Duke of Northumberland and the Church of England.

The radical plan – which would receive £42m in Government funding – is aimed at tackling serious problems of academic underachievement, surplus places and poor school buildings in the Hirst High School pyramid. It involves the closure of nine schools in August next year – Hirst High, Ashington, Seaton Hirst and Newbiggin Middle Schools, and Coulson Park, Hawthorn, Welbeck, Alexandra, Newbiggin Moorside and Newbiggin Windsor first schools.

They would be replaced by a new 1,720-student academy on the Hirst High site, with secondary, primary and special educational needs elements. Three primary academies – catering for youngsters aged three to 11 – would be developed at the Newbiggin Middle and Ashington Alexandra and Hawthorn First School sites, accommodating just over 1,000 pupils. If approved, the Hirst Academy would be the second of its kind in Northumberland, following the green light for the Emmanuel Schools Foundation’s £30m, all-age Bede Academy, due to open in Blyth next year.

Last night opposition was already being voiced to the shake-up in Ashington, amid fears it will remove too many schools from the heart of local communities.

Wansbeck MP Denis Murphy said: “I have severe reservations about closing nine schools, in part of the constituency which needs all the help it can get, and replacing them with four schools on fairly remote sites.

“I have genuine concerns about the whole ethos of the academy and have sought an urgent meeting with the county council leadership. I really do worry that the council seems to lack any political direction if they think this is a good idea.”

Wansbeck constituency Labour Party secretary Coun David Nicholson said: “These proposals have come out of the blue and there has been minimal consultation. From the little we do know, they seem to be out of step with the educational needs of both Ashington and Newbiggin and to be in conflict with what many governors are telling us.” Next week county councillors are expected to launch widespread consultations with parents, governors and staff on the preferred model for the Ashington academy.

The Duke’s Northumberland Estates and the Church of England will not contribute to the capital costs of the scheme but will invest £1m each in a special trust fund.

Last night Geoff Holmes, Northumberland secretary of the teaching union NAS/UWT, described the Ashington plans as ‘extreme proposals’ which required the closest scrutiny.

Trevor Doughty, the county council’s executive director of children’s services, said: “Currently there are some significant issues facing the education system in Hirst, particularly with regard to standards, surplus places and quality of school buildings. This report outlines a proposed model that would address all of these problems. This is only a model and we are now seeking permission to gauge the views of pupils, parents, school staff and governors about this proposal.”

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Special school to be rebuilt

AMBITIOUS plans for a £6m rebuild of a Northumberland school are about to go on show.

The project will improve facilities at Hexham Priory special school and increase its capacity, currently just over 60, by 21 places.

A recent consultation exercise revealed that 98% of respondents were in favour of rebuilding and expanding the school, which caters for children with high-dependency special needs. The county council executive is expected to give the green light for work to start at its meeting on February 1.

The exhibition will be held at the school on February 13 from 4pm to 7pm.

The development includes a library and two halls. The new two-storey school will be built next to the current site at Dene Park. The old school will eventually be demolished.

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£33m for new school in Alnwick

NEW school facilities look to be on the cards at last for Alnwick in Northumberland after education bosses set aside £33m for new facilities in the town.

The move was welcomed last night by Berwick MP Alan Beith, who has been campaigning for the issue in Parliament after the Duchess’s High School was described as having the worst facilities in the county.

County councillors are expected to approve the cash next month, and members said they believed Northumberland’s new unitary authority would press ahead with the plans.

It could include a new school on a new site that could also incorporate the other schools in the town.

Mr Beith said: "Alnwick desperately needs a new school to replace the Duchess’s High School and this is a vital commitment for Northumberland County Council to make."

Maurice Hall, headteacher at the high school, said: "I am genuinely excited by the possibility of monies being allocated to fund new learning facilities."

A county council spokeswoman added: "These are just proposals at the moment and will need to be agreed by the executive on January 30 and then the county council on February 13.

"However the scheme is identified as a priority in the overall planned capital expenditure of the council."

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'Sickening' axe

PARENTS, pupils, governors and supporters of a village school were left "sickened" by the decision of education bosses to close it yesterday.

Some Durham County Council cabinet members even admitted they had not read submissions by supporters of Hamsteels Primary School, Esh Winning, before yesterday’s meeting.

Yet they still supported a proposal by Coun Claire Vasey, cabinet member for children’s and young people’s services, to close the school on August 31.

Local county councillor Joe Armstrong said he was "sickened" by the decision of his Labour Party colleagues.

In October last year, the cabinet provisionally agreed to close the school, but opponents of the plan were given six weeks’ statutory notice to make their own representations. Cabinet members heard that falling pupil numbers meant that by 2010 the school was expected to have only 38 pupils. The school building was also in need of "substantial and costly repairs" which the school could not afford.

Coun Vasey said: "The decision to close any school is not an easy one and it is something we do only when we feel that it is in the best interests of pupils, parents and the community."