Upton St James School

Dr Peter Matthews

Office of the Schools Adjudicator
Mowden Hall
Staindrop Road
Darlington
DL3 9BG

Ref:  AMS/Upton

Date: 4 October 2005

Dear Dr Matthews

Re: Upton St James Primary School, Toquay

I enclose some supporting factors from parents for your consideration in determining the future of Upton St James School along with some of my own observations that are additional to those covered by the parents.

May I request that you visit the school to meet with parents and community representatives as part of your consideration of the proposals?  Not only would this help you reach your own conclusions about the physical state of the school, one of the factors on which the LEAs case is made, but to see the commitment of parents and the wider community who wish to retain the school.

The LEAs case for closure is not on educational grounds.  The most recent Ofsted report praised many aspects of the school.  It was a good report.

The LEA has a duty to reduce surplus places and to consider the cost of education.  Torbay receives £300 per primary pupil less than the national average and the authority is a member of the F40 group of LEAs who are disadvantaged by the formula funding regime.  Consequently this impacts on the unit costs of providing places in comparison to other LEAs and directly led to the decision making process  Torbay has had to embark upon.   Yet, according to the most recent Ofsted report, Upton St James provides satisfactory value for money.

The key issue for the LEA is surplus places. Torbay has identified a significant fall in primary numbers after a period of steady growth.  The falls are due mostly to the outward migration of families affected by the loss of 4,500 manufacturing jobs in one plant over the past four years and the weakness of the local economy to provide comparable employment opportunities. 

That may not be the case in the medium term.  Major investment is taking place in the harbourside area of Torquay and one of the key barriers to inward investment and employment stability is about to be removed with the construction of the Kingskerswell by-pass by 2011.  The absence of any background economic data must bring into question whether the LEA has properly evaluated the options.

I have written separately to the Secretary of State for Education about another issue that is pertinent to your considerations.  This is the decision making process for school closures on the grounds of surplus places.  By identifying a school early in the process admission demand falls and the closure becomes a fait accompli.  The point is that the process itself, let alone closure, is not in the best interests of local children and families.

Finally, the LEA itself admits in its review of Primary School Places in Torquay, 17 May 2005, paragraph 6.4, that there is wide scope for making a different set of changes but doubts that any permutation of changes would be universally well received.  This judgement may well be correct, but the purpose of the process, particularly as it is consequential on the funding formula for schools and imposed externally on the LEA, is to do what is right.

Yours sincerely

Adrian Sanders MP