An infant and junior school in Brighton look likely to merge after a public consultation which drew just 47 responses.
Brighton and Hove City Council is expected to push ahead with a plan to combine Hertford Infant School and Hertford Junior School on one site in Hollingdean from September next year.
If councillors back the proposal at a meeting next week, the new primary school is expected to admit one class a year on the current junior school site in Lynchet Close.
They are due to vote on the merger proposal at a meeting of the council’s Children, Families and Schools Committee next Monday (11 September).
A report to the committee said that 11 of the 47 responses to the consultation – carried out in June and July – came from parents or carers and 20 from local residents.
The report said that 54.5 per cent of parents and carers agreed with the merger proposal, compared with 70 per cent of residents who were against.
Just over half of the 47 responses objected to the proposal to have one form of entry – or one class for each year group – but three in four parents were in support.
Just 26 pupils were given places in reception year, starting last September, when the school had 60 places on offer – and demand is not expected to increase.
For this school year, the infant school admission number dropped from 60 pupils to 30 – and 22 children were allocated places to start in reception this month.
Seventy per cent of residents – or 14 out of 20 – objected to the infants moving to the junior school site but seven out of 11 – or 64 per cent of parents and carers – agreed.
A previous report said that the council had no plans to sell the current infant school site in Hertford Road.
If that changed, the report said, the council would need permission from the Education Secretary – a process that could take two years.
The latest report said: “Those supporting the proposals referenced the need for financial viability, the protection of a school provision in the community with the potential to expand and saw it as a logical response to the problems being encountered.
“Those objecting to the proposals questioned the appropriateness of making a decision based on short-term data, the risk that the move to one school could lead to future academisation and a loss of a community resource of historical and environmental importance.
“There was also concern about the potential selling off of a council asset, a concern that other schools are too big, the implication on traffic leading to and on Lynchet Close, as well as a sense of incomplete data at the time of the consultation, especially on the school’s budgets, to fully inform a response.
“It was felt that a potential change in national government could improve the fortunes of both schools with greater funding being allocated to schools in the future.”
Councillors are being asked next week to agree to publish the required statutory notices to move ahead with the proposals.
Any responses will be referred to another meeting of the Children, Families and Schools Committee – on Monday 6 November.
The committee is due to meet at Hove Town Hall at 4pm on Monday 11 September. The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
Last Ofsted, the junior school was on requires improvement.
We have children in infants and juniors. They are both excellent, nurturing schools with great staff and leadership. While i feel the proposed merger is a shame it’s also a common sense response to a wider issue of low birth rate and intake in the city. Young families are forced to move out of the city for more affordable housing.
As a resident of Hertford Road, I would like to know WHERE my ‘Consultation’ papers/notification are? I have received ‘Nothing from Anybody’ regarding this proposal. Why has it not been mentioned in the Hollingdean Newsletter which is circulated regularly? I have received no information from the School or the Ward councillors! No wonder the responses were so low. Who did receive the ‘Consultation’ paper and when?
In 2017 a similar proposal was made and residents were able to put forward their views. The result was that the infant school remained open and has continued to nurture our young families. With so many young children in the area, some of which do not speak or understand English. I would have thought smaller classes were essential to their happiness and wellbeing.