Matt
Jones, the Manager of the Access Unit presented proposals relating
to primary school catchment areas and the consultation process for
changing some of the catchments in Monmouthshire. He explained that
the proposal was to change the catchment for Tredunnock, Llanhennock and Llandegvedd, which currently have Charles Williams
Primary School in Newport as their catchment school. The
consultation proposed to align these areas with Monmouthshire
primary catchment and Monmouth Comprehensive School, which is their
secondary catchment, so that Monmouthshire children have equal
access to a Monmouthshire school. The consultation was
launched in January and closed recently, and the final decision
will be made by the cabinet on the 10th of April, based on a report
that will include the details of the consultation
responses.
Challenge:
- The
ward Member stated that she was very supportive of the proposal and
had been fully engaged in the work to date in drafting this
report.
- Questions were asked around how the access unit works with the
planning department to prepare and ensure sufficiency in school
placements and take into account future
housing projections, citing examples where housing developments
have been marketed as being within the catchment of a good school,
when there may not be places in the school.
- Members highlighted their concern in relation to Crick Road and
the sufficiency, due to the 2 primaries at full
capacity.
- Questions were asked about how many responses were received from
the consultation on primary school catchment areas (the answer was
17), how many were supportive of the proposed change (13 responses
were supportive), and what the main reasons were for supporting or
opposing the change. The officer responded that supporters wanted
equal access to a Monmouthshire school, while the opponents were
concerned about distance and travel options.
- Members asked how the travelling distance and transport options
would affect the families in the affected area and how housing
developments in the area will impact the capacity of the
schools. The officer explained that the council would provide
free home to school transport to the nearest or catchment school,
and that parents could still choose to send their children to
Charles Williams School if they preferred. He reassured Members
that they had taken into account the
projected numbers of children from the new developments and that
Usk School had sufficient capacity to accommodate
them.
- Questions were asked around pupil funding and where it goes if a
pupil stays in an area, the officer explaining that funding is
purely relevant to numbers on school roll, not per head, and that
if children go to school out of county, the council doesn’t
receive the pupil funding and similarly, if they come into
Monmouthshire from out of county, the funding comes in with them,
so it tends to neutralise.
- Members asked how many pupils the proposal would involve and the
cost of transporting them. The officer responded that it would be 9
that would be eligible and that the projected position between now
and 2027, would be 2 children per year that would need to be built
into Usk’s catchment, served by
an extra minibus.
- Questions were asked around the funding formula ratio we use,
but it was explained that it is complex and could be brought to a
future member workshop for discussion. is it 1.3 per
household?
- Members asked about siblings and if there is an automatic right
the sibling can go to the same school and the response was that the
policy has been amended to give priority to catchment children over
those who are outside of the area, even if there is a sibling
link.
Summary:
The
committee acknowledged the background, rationale and consultation process for the proposed
change of catchment area for Tredunnock, Llanhennock and Llandegvedd from Charles Williams Primary School in
Newport to Usk Church in Wales School in Monmouthshire. The
committee had heard that most responses were supportive of the
change, although some had raised concerns about distance and travel
options. Members recognised that the primary school catchment areas
review will be a rolling programme, looking at each area of the
county and assessing their suitability and need for change. The
committee asked to be involved in the process through workshops and
highlighted the need for the ward member to be engaged throughout
Members supported the proposals outlined in the
report.