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Town Council to demand information so school closure decision can be scrutinised
16/10/2023
Parents passionately expressed their opinion on the closure of Southfield Primary Academy
Moves to close Southfield Primary Academy in Brackley should be put on hold until a number of questions are answered: that’s the request Brackley Town Council will be making to West Northamptonshire Council and the Department for Education following an Extraordinary Meeting, held on Friday afternoon.
Councillors heard parents passionately expressing their feelings with one telling the meeting she was “appalled” and another saying the decision left her “utterly disgusted”.
Questions were asked as to why the decision was being based purely on the school’s finances, for which there didn’t appear to be a clear picture of the actual position. Losses of just £26,000 last year were quoted – the equivalent of five extra pupils – although this figure was dismissed as not accurate.
The meeting heard that closing the school had first been discussed in 2019 following a damning Ofsted report, but the Department for Education agreed to fund it to allow enough time for a turnaround in Southfield’s fortunes.
Councillor Fiona Baker is a Brackley Town Councillor and also West Northamptonshire’s Cabinet Member for Children, Families, Education and Skills . Speaking after the meeting Councillor Baker told Banbury FM: “They have had four years – other schools have turned themselves around in four years. When they had the “Inadequate” [Ofsted rating] the Head left, the trustees left and some of the teachers left. They brought in a whole new team to turn it around.
“The Department for Education have supported and funded them for that period of time. After four years they just think they can’t see enough improvement.
“Last year they had 14 entries into reception; this year they had eight, so it’s not going up, it’s going down. We do know that the birth rate is dropping over the whole country. People are having less children. In the new developments that are talked about on the outline plan, there is a primary school in that development. The people who live there will want their children to go to the nearest school to their house.”
The meeting heard that a case had been made for Southfield Primary Academy to have a much needed SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) focus, something South Northants MP Dame Andrea Leadsom will take directly to Gillian Keegan – the Secretary of State for Education.
Dame Andrea told Banbury FM: “What’s very clear is there is a very strong cohort of opinion of people that would love to see the school continue.
“I’ve worked with councillor Fiona Baker over the last couple of years on trying to look at perhaps a one form entry plus a SEND provision which is desperately needed in South Northamptonshire. For various reasons that’s not been taken up by the [Department for Education]. I do think there is some prospect that we could go back and revisit this.”
Simon Weaver is Brackley Town Councillor and also a Southfield parent. He believes that despite the assertions Brackley currently has enough school places if Southfield closes, this isn’t a long term view. Councillor Weaver is keen to see the business case for the decision, which Town Councillors will be requesting.
He said: “There’s costs involving closing the school (teacher redundancies and winding down the buildings), and it’s a huge cost opening a school as well. It doesn’t make sense and hopefully those sorts of calculations will be in the business case. If we get the business case it can be scrutinised.
“I think we’ve got a positive response from the town council. We’re going to be writing to the Trustees, West Northants Council and the Department for Education demanding the information that they were supposed to provide to build this business case. We’ll make sure this decision is properly scrutinised.”
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam