Free School Presumption consultation - Wrexham Road
This consultation is now closed.
For further updates, please view:
Background
The Council has a statutory duty to ensure that there are sufficient school places for primary, secondary and special schools within the Borough.
We are proposing to provide a new 1.5 Form of Entry (FE) primary school as part of strategic development, Wrexham Road. The school will initially be a 1FE, with the intention to provide a further 0.5FE as the need arises. The provision is expected to be open from September 2026. This in turn will provide an additional 315 primary places, with a Published Admission Number (PAN) of 45.
This proposal will assist the Council in meeting this sufficiency duty in Planning Area, Chester South.
The proposal to create a Free school has arisen due to foreplaned mitigation of expected pupils from strategic development, Wrexham Road. The development is 1,400 residential dwellings. Data demonstrates the additional dwellings creates the need for 315 primary places to directly serve the new development.
The proposal also includes provision for 3-4 year olds, as well as a new shared catchment area.
We would like to hear your views on the proposal. Your views on this proposal will help us formulate and finalise the specification for the new school, as part of the Free School Presumption Process.
Find out more
Share your views
The 6 week consultation period will run from the 6 November 2023 to 17 December2023.
In addition we will be holding a drop in session from Lache Community Centre, Chester:
- Attend drop-in session: 16 November 2023, 9am - 4:30pm
- Join our virtual drop-in session: 22 November 2023, 5pm - 6:30pm
- Email: schoolorganisationandconsultations@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk to register your interest
- Complete the survey using the ‘Have your say’ link above
The survey will need to be completed and returned to us by the closing date of 11:59pm Sunday 17 December 2023.
What happens next?
All feedback received during the informal consultation period will be considered and used to formalise the specification for the new primary school. Once the specification has been agreed we can then progress with Seeking Expressions of Interest from Free School or Academy Providers who would like to run the school.
The Free School Presumption is expected to start Spring 2024.
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Accessibility
Council information is also available in audio, braille, large print or other formats. If you would like a copy in a different format, in another language or require a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter, please contact us:
- Email: equalities@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk
- Telephone: 0300 123 8 123
- Textphone: 18001 01606 867670
The Free School Presumption process is the main route by which local authorities establish new schools in order to meet the need for additional places, both in terms of basic need and the need for diverse provision within their areas. The Council is responsible for the specification of the new school.
The outcome of the consultation will help to form the school specification.
The Council will prepare a specification which is detailed enough to enable proposers to understand the needs identified by the Council and submit the strongest proposal possible.
The school specification will include, but not limited to, details such as:
- character/ethos of school;
- phase and age range (nursery)
- opening date;
- pupil capacity;
- proposed Published Admission Number(s) (PAN), number of forms of entry on opening, and expected rate of growth;
- proposed admission arrangements, including catchment area if applicable;
- where relevant, any requirement to include a special unit, satellite provision or resourced provision
for pupils with special educational needs;
- details of any desired community use of the school and/or a preference for any
shared facilities
- Before and After School Clubs / wrap around care
The Council will be working on the detailed design of the school over the coming months. The details of the school building design and layout and other matters, such as the details of sustainable construction and school travel plan, will be submitted for planning approval at a later date. This design work is separate from the current consultation.
Once the school specification has been formalised, the Council will begin the competition in which Department for Education Approved academy sponsors will be able to bid directly to the Council to run and manage the new school.
The Council will assess bids using the DfE framework, submitting an assessment of each proposer to the Secretary of State, including scoring given for each one. This will allow the Regional Schools Director (on behalf of Secretary of State) to decide the most suitable proposer. The Council will recommend a preferred sponsor, however it will be the Regional Schools Director (on behalf of the Secretary of State) to make final decision.
The successful Trust appointed to run the new school will undertake a formal consultation.
The new school is located centrally on the development of Wrexham Road.
The below shows the Council’s proposed catchment area for the new school. This will be a shared area, in parts, with Doddleston C of E Primary and Lache Primary. The catchment has been extended to natural boundaries and does not indicate in any way that further housing is expected in these areas.
Admissions arrangements, including catchment area will be drafted by the successful trust and will be reviewed by the Department for Education before the statutory section 10 consultation commences.
Strategic housing developments forecast annual build rates, to which we apply forecast annual pupils expected. The actual dwellings that are occupied and the children that arise from them can fluctuate. The Council continually monitors children moving into new housing.
Larger developments can take many years to build out, and can be driven by a number of factors. Building a school in stages assists in managing the places needed at the time, whilst ensuring the sustainability of existing schools.
Below is the expected build rate and pupil forecast for the Wrexham Road Housing Development:
|
|
Cumulative to date |
2023-24 |
2024-25 |
2025-26 |
2026-27 |
2027-28 |
Cumulative 2028 onwards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Projected no. houses completed |
470 |
132 |
131 |
110 |
110 |
111 |
336
|
|
Projected primary school places required per year |
99 |
28 |
28 |
23 |
23 |
23 |
71
|
|
Projected primary school places required - cumulative |
99 |
127 |
155 |
178 |
201 |
224 |
295 |
The new school is intended to serve the residents from the new development at Wrexham Road. A development of this size requires additional community infrastructure to ensure sustainability.
We will ask all prospective trusts who wish to run the school to demonstrate how they will ensure cohesion and good relations with existing schools in the area.
Forecasts demonstrate a shortfall of primary places in the planning area during the current forecasting period, which coincides with the opening date of the school.
We expect the new school to be open by the earliest, for September 2026. We have agreed capital funding from the developers to accommodate pupils in the interim period whilst the new school is being built.
We are in discussions with local schools for temporary provision and will provide updates on the progress of this, here:
All 3 - 4 year olds will receive a minimum of 15 hours of funded early year entitlement across 38 weeks of the year (school term time).
We will specify that the provider offers a minimum of 30 hours across 38 weeks of the year (school term time).
The pre-school classbase will accommodate a maximum of 26 children at one time.
If eligible, working families may receive 30 hours funded early year entitlement across 38 weeks of the year (school term time).
For further information about eligibility please visit:
We will specify that the school must offer before and after school club / wrap around care from 8am – 6pm.
SEN Resourced provision is where places are reserved at a mainstream school for pupils with a specific type of SEN, taught mainly within mainstream classes, but requiring a base and some specialist facilities around the school. Pupils are on the roll of the host mainstream school with the base managed and staffed by the host school. The benefit of this is that it embodies an inclusive ethos and directly engages mainstream schools as key partners in the delivery of specialist provision.
There are also well-established models around the Country where pupils are catered for in SEN “Satellite Provision”, operated by Specialist Schools on Mainstream School sites. This model can provide the best of both worlds in terms of curriculum access, social integration, and specialist support. The Special School is named on a child’s EHC Plan, and the provision is managed and staffed by the Special School.
Form of Entry (FE): Defines the size of a school and refers to the number of children entering Reception. A 1 Form Entry school accommodates 210 pupils and admits 30 children per year.
Published Admission Number (PAN): The agreed number of pupils a school will admit into reception.
School Capacity: The agreed number of pupils a school can accommodate based on building size.
Education Health and Care Plan: An education, health and care (EHC) plan is for children and young people aged up to 25 who need more support than is available through special educational needs support. EHC plans identify educational, health and social needs and set out the additional support to meet those needs.