Schools Adjudicator Report - Summary and conclusion and Determination

2.31.06pm GMT Wed 16th May 2007

52. Derbyshire County Council is proposing to close Stoney Middleton School because pupil numbers are low, have been falling for some time and are projected to continue to do so. As a result the school has surplus places, is relatively expensive to fund and its educational viability is under serious threat. This puts the quality of education available to pupils at the school at risk and places an unfair financial burden on other Derbyshire primary schools and their pupils. Curbar is the alternative local school to which the Council is proposing that Stoney Middleton children transfer. It provides a high quality education, higher than that currently provided by Stoney Middleton, has sufficient space (although the position may be tight in the short term) and is less than two miles away. Parents preferring to continue at a Church of England School could instead choose Eyam, where provision is said by Ofsted to be satisfactory and improving. Capacity at Eyam may be a problem in the longer term as pupil numbers are projected to increase and the school is likely to be almost full by 2011.

53. Objectors' main arguments are that Stoney Middleton School should not close because it provides children with a good education and has done so for many years. Parents and children are happy with the school, can and do walk there and its proximity enables children to participate readily in out of school activities. There is no suitable transport to the alternative school and those without access to a car would have to walk 1.5 miles along a very busy and dangerous road risking their health and safety. The school building plays a very significant part in village life and in promoting social cohesion. It is the only publicly available venue in the village and is heavily used by a large number of community groups and for many activities throughout the year. If the school closed, this facility would be lost to the village.

54. I have considered very carefully all of the arguments and evidence available to me in making what has not been an easy decision. Stoney Middleton is a rural school and there is therefore a presumption against its closure. To agree the closure I must be persuaded of the strength of the case and that closure would clearly be in the best interests of educational provision in the area. The evidence on the quality of provision at the school is, unfortunately, not as up to date as it might be and gives a mixed picture. The most recent attainment data shows that most pupils achieve at least the expected levels at KS2. Performance, as measured by both CVA and relative attainment, shows areas of strength and of weakness. Overall the SIRRs confirm this view of a school that plainly has room for improvement but that has the capacity to do so with the help of the Council. And as recently as September 2006 the Council set out its commitment to continue to work with the school on its action plan. That said, I am however equally clear from what I have seen that the quality of provision at Curbar is better. But that of itself is not a sufficient argument for me to agree closure.

55. It is the transport implications of closure that cause me, and almost all objectors, the greatest concern. I am quite frankly amazed that, notwithstanding the report from its Hazardous Roads Panel, the Council has not seen fit to put in place any provision for transporting at least the existing Stoney Middleton pupils to Curbar. It seems to me highly undesirable that parents and children without access to a car are left with no reasonable alternative but to walk twice daily alongside the A623 given the volume and nature of the traffic on that road. So while I accept the Council's general argument on the link between educational viability and low pupil numbers, in this case I have not been presented with sufficiently conclusive evidence that the closure of Stoney Middleton School would be in the best interests of educational provision in the area to outweigh my very serious concerns about access to Curbar School and to Eyam School.

Determination

56. Under the powers conferred on me by Schedule 6 to the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, I hereby reject the proposal.

Dated: 14 May 2007

Signed:

Schools Adjudicator:

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