Harrogate schools Archives - The Stray Ferret

Rossett School to meet parents to discuss sixth form merger concerns

Rossett School leaders are to meet parents next week to discuss concerns about the sixth form merger with Harrogate Grammar School.

Students planning to join Rossett sixth form in autumn were informed last week they will be taught at nearby Harrogate Grammar School instead. Current Rossett sixth form students are unaffected.

The move took pupils and parents by surprise, with some questioning why they weren’t consulted and unhappy at the potential disruption.

About 65 Rossett students will be affected and school leaders held a media briefing yesterday to provide more details about the merger and the reasoning behind it. They revealed:

The number of sixth form students at Harrogate Grammar School is expected to remain at about 650 despite the influx of Rossett students because “grade inflation” caused by covid is expected to ease, thus reducing the number of eligible students.
Sixth form students will attend all their lessons at Harrogate Grammar School but teachers will move between the two schools.
Rossett’s former sixth form buildings will be used as a teacher recruitment and training hub by the Red Kite Learning Trust. Rossett is due to become the trust’s 14th school in September. Harrogate Grammar School already belongs to it.

Richard Sheriff, chief executive of the trust, said collaborative sixth forms were a proven model in Harrogate, citing St Aidan’s Church of England High School and St John Fisher Catholic High School.

Mr Sheriff added there had been a long-term vision for Rossett and Harrogate Grammar School to collaborate more closely and the merger would not only achieve this but also improve education for students.

He said better children’s outcomes was the main driver for change but acknowledged cost was also “absolutely part of this”.

Rossett’s income, which is based on student numbers, has decreased significantly in recent years due to pupil numbers falling by roughly a third from 1,500 to 1,000.

Mr Sheriff said the decline in pupil numbers was due to fewer students from Leeds attending because of higher bus fares and improved schools in Leeds as well as Rossett’s ‘requires improvement’ rating by schools inspector Ofsted.

He said the Ofsted assessment “weighed heavily” on Rossett and the merger would demonstrate the school’s commitment to improve.

Mr Sheriff added building a new joint sixth form building was a long-term dream. He said:

“It’s hard for any school to survive on their own these days. It’s not a safe place to be.”

‘We have to be realistic’

Rossett consulted with governors about the merger but not parents — why not? Mr Sheriff said:

“What would we do with the outcome of the consultation if parents said ‘we’d like to keep things as they are’?

“If we did that the school would be bankrupt next year. We have to be realistic and genuine with parents.”

Harrogate Grammar School

Tim Milburn, who will formally take up the headteacher’s role at Rossett in September after previously being deputy headteacher at Harrogate Grammar School, hopes next week’s meeting will reassure parents. He said:

“There’s been some questions and concerns but we have tried to respond to them quickly.

“The news will have come as a shock and we acknowledge there are concerns but we have thought long and hard about how we can make the best provision for children. We want Rossett to be a thriving, growing school again.”

What about special needs students that might be particularly anxious about the unwanted change of environment?

Pete Saunders, the current acting headteacher at Rossett, said:

“In that scenario, special educational needs co-ordinators will get together with parents and students and discuss what provision they need to make the transition successfully.”

Mr Saunders added another advantage of the move is that Rossett sixth formers will be able to take advantage of Harrogate Grammar School’s broader curriculum, which includes subjects such as medical science that otherwise would not be available.

Rossett sixth form to merge with Harrogate Grammar School

Students planning to go to a Harrogate sixth form in September have been told they will instead be taught at another school.

Rossett School has this week told parents that pupils going into sixth form will attend classes at Harrogate Grammar School.

A letter to grammar school parents said the move was “to ensure the breadth of curriculum offer for their current Year 11 students” at Rossett.

Current sixth form students going into their second and final year at Rossett School will be unaffected, the letter said.

Harrogate Grammar School also reassured parents that it would not have an impact on class sizes. It said:

“Typically, each year one third of students in both Year 12 and Year 13 are new students to HGS, joining from a wide range of schools across the region. It is therefore entirely normal for new students to join us in our sixth form.”

It said the school had reached its sixth form capacity of 650 students during and following the covid pandemic, but was now able to accommodate the “small number” of Rossett students who would join this year.

Harrogate Grammar School offers A level and BTEC courses, as well as the extended project qualification (EPQ). Rossett School has offered a similar programme of courses and subjects.

The news comes as the two schools work increasingly closely, with Rossett expected to join the same multi-academy trust as Harrogate Grammar School from September.

Last week, it was confirmed that HGS deputy headteacher Tim Milburn will take over as head of Rossett School.

At the same time, the school is expected to join the Red Kite Learning Trust, which already has a membership of 13 schools, including three primaries and a junior school in the Harrogate district.

12 local schools raise £6,000 at concert in Harrogate

Twelve primary schools raised about £6,000 for cancer care by performing a charity concert at the Royal Hall in Harrogate.

A total of 258 pupils took to the stage for the sold out concert, which has been held annually since 2015 except for covid.

Sarah Bassitt, who will retire as headteacher of Killinghall Church of England Primary School at the end of the year, was the main organiser of the event.

Funds raised from Friday’s show will go to the Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre at Harrogate District Hospital, which provides cancer treatment.

Ms Bassitt said the raffle raised about £1,000 and the overall tally was expected to exceed £6,000.

“This will mean that over the time that we have been doing the concert we will have raised over £25,000 for local charities.

“It was an amazing evening that was highly appreciated and praised by parents.”

The show included choirs, a wind band, a ukulele group, recorders and dancers.

The finale saw all the children on stage together sing two songs conducted by Helen Potter

Schools taking part were:

Admiral Long and Birstwith CE Primary Schools

Bishop Monkton CE Primary School

Dacre Braithwaite CE Primary School

Hampsthwaite CE Primary School

The Federation of Kettlesing, Felliscliffe, Beckwithshaw & Ripley

Killinghall CE Primary School

The Upper Nidderdale Federation of Schools

Last-ditch campaign to save Woodfield school in Bilton

A union official has offered to spearhead a campaign to save Woodfield Community Primary School from closure.

A four-week consultation on closing the school on December 31 ends on July 4.

Representatives from North Yorkshire County Council told a public meeting last night they had exhausted all options to keep it open.

There was widespread anger and disbelief among those attending at how a school with good facilities in a populated area had ended up in this position.

Gary McVeigh-Kaye, North Yorkshire district branch secretary of the National Education Union, said it was “disgusting and immoral” that the school faced closure because it couldn’t find an academy sponsor. He added:

“This is a community school. If you want to campaign, I will support you.”

Ten staff could lose their jobs if the closure goes ahead.

Woodfield School public meeting

Only about 20 people attended last night’s meeting at the school. Many of those present said most parents regarded closure as a done deal orchestrated by the county council.

Morag Plummer, who has had links with the school since it opened 51 years ago, said the council had neglected a once-thriving school for seven years. She said:

“They want this land and they couldn’t give a damn about us.

“The majority of people in the community want their children to attend a school in the area. Children are heartbroken.

“They just want that land and everybody else will suffer.”

Other parents made the same claim that the land would be used for housing but Andrew Dixon, the council’s strategic planning manager for children and young people’s services, said a decision on the site’s future hadn’t been made.

He added any such decision would be distinct from that of the school’s future.

Andrew Dixon, speaking at last night’s meeting.

Mr Dixon said the council’s proposed merger of Woodfield and nearby Grove Road Community Primary School showed it wanted to retain the Woodfield site for education. The proposal, which Grove Road governors rejected, would have seen Woodfield become part of Grove Road.

Mr Dixon’s presentation highlighted how Woodfield pupil numbers had fallen from 154 in 2018 to 37 this year.

He said 93% of primary aged children in the Woodfield catchment area who attended a council-run school went to other schools.

Woodfield, he added, faced a cumulative deficit of £229,000 in 2023/34, due to low pupil numbers.

He presented three options: the Woodfield catchment area could either be subsumed by Grove Road or Bilton Grange Primary School catchment areas, or it could be shared by the two schools.

Dave Poole, whose children and grandchildren attended Woodfield, said many parents had already taken their children out of the school due to scaremongering messages about its future,

James Poole said he had been unable to find another school willing to take on his child, who has special needs.

Woodfield School

Retired teacher Diane Maguire, who lives in the area, said the school’s facilities and vast outdoor space would be a huge loss to the community. She said:

“It seems the school has been badly let down by North Yorkshire County Council. It seems like the council is culpable.”

Aytach Sadik, a grandparent, asked if families could buy the school, which was described as “an interesting proposal” by Amanda Wilkinson, the Conservative councillor for Morton-on-Swale and Appleton Wiske, who is also the council’s executive member for education and learning skills.

Andrew Hart, a sub-postmaster in Bilton, said numerous new nearby housing developments would exacerbate the need for a school in future and the council should think ahead when making its decision, rather than look at past failings. Woodfield, he said, had been left to “rot on the vine”.

But Mr Dixon said falling birth rates suggested local schools would be able to cope.

Amanda Newbold, assistant director for education and skills at the council, said nobody wanted the school to be in the position it was but the local education authority was obliged to work with Woodfield governors to find a way forward.

Bilton has ‘sufficient primary places’ if Woodfield school closes

Education officials have said there should be “sufficient primary places” in Bilton if Woodfield Community Primary School closes, even though most nearby schools are full.

A report to councillors today will recommend they approve beginning a consultation on closing Woodfield by December 31 this year at the earliest.

The report recommends the consultation is shortened from the usual six weeks to four weeks because of “the urgency of the position and the need to provide as much clarity as possible to parents before the summer holidays”.

It says parents and carers of the 37 pupils remaining at Woodfield will be asked to apply for the preferred school that they would like their child to transfer to in the event of closure, adding:

“Once the full picture of all preferences is known, the local authority would liaise with the schools regarding potential allocations, and seek to meet the highest stated preferences wherever possible.”

Woodfield has a capacity of 150 pupils — 113 more than it currently caters for. Many parents have moved their children amid the ongoing uncertainty.

Nearby schools full

Nearby Bilton Grange Primary School, Grove Road Community Primary School and Richard Taylor Church of England Primary School are all currently operating beyond capacity, the report says, while St Robert’s Catholic Primary School is one pupil below capacity.

Woodfield’s closure would therefore put pressure on nearby schools but the report to councillors at tomorrow’s North Yorkshire County Council children and young people’s service committee says:

“There are no significant housing permissions within the Woodfield school catchment area, although there are several housing developments underway or planned in neighbouring school catchment areas.

“If the closure proposal went ahead, there would be a reduction of 150 primary school places available in the local area.

“Given current forecasts, including the likely demand from new housing, and current patterns of parental preference, there would appear to be sufficient primary places available in the local area, should the closure of Woodfield school be approved, as overall birth rates are falling in Harrogate district, and pupils living in the Woodfield school catchment area already attend a wide variety of primary schools.”

The report says pupil numbers determine school funding and Woodfield is forecast to have a budget deficit of £97,000 this year and a cumulative deficit of £229,000 by 2023/24.

Future of site unclear

A decision on the future of the school site has yet to be made. The report says:

“The county council owns the school site, which also accommodates Bilton and Woodfield Community Library, Harrogate Bilton children and family hub, and Oak Beck House.

“Decisions about the future use of the school premises will be taken after the closure proposal has been determined.”

Woodfield was rated inadequate by Ofsted in 2020. It subsequently failed to find an academy sponsor and a proposed merger with Grove Road fell through this year.

Parents set for agonising wait over future of Harrogate school

An education leader has indicated there is unlikely to be a quick decision on the fate of Woodfield Community Primary School amid growing frustration amongst parents and children.

The school has offered new admissions in September. But with a huge question mark over its future, and the total number of pupils falling to 37 amid the uncertainty, parents want a quick decision so they can make definite plans.

However, Amanda Newbold, assistant director for education and skills at North Yorkshire County Council, indicated it could be some time before a decision is made.

She said:

“It is anticipated that some time will be required for reflection, discussion and careful consideration of the school’s position between the governing board, the county council and the Department for Education.

“We cannot yet indicate a date when further news will be available, but parents and carers will be informed as soon as possible.”

The Bilton school faces the possibility of closure after nearby Grove Road Community Primary School withdrew from a planned merger three weeks ago. The merger was proposed after Woodfield school was rated ‘inadequate’ by government inspectors from Ofsted in 2020 and no academy would take it on.

Sarah Preston, who has been a parent to children at the school for 12 years, said clarity was needed rather than the current “mixed messages”. She added:

“This process has caused nothing but worry and stress for parents and children. As a family we are hoping there is some kind of miracle and it doesn’t close and my children can stay there.

“The other day I got am email off the council saying my son has a place in September — how can they say this when no one knows what actually is happening?

“It is absolutely shocking how we are all been treated through this.”

Ms Preston said merger appeared to be a “done deal” until recently and she was now left “praying for a miracle” that Woodfield survives — but if it doesn’t she would rather know soon so she could make alternative plans for September. She said:

“Woodfield school is in a great location for families. There’s a brilliant green area for children to play sport and it’s right next to the library, which is great.

“With more houses being built we need schools.”

Asked what parents should do amid the uncertainty, Ms Newbold said:

“The ability to look for an alternative school place is a right for parents and carers in any circumstances and at any time.

“In this case, there is no immediate requirement for parents/carers to do anything in respect of a school transfer. Woodfield school will be open in September 2022 and admissions to the reception year have been dealt with in the normal way.”

‘Emotional’ day as children head back to school

Today was a big day, as many children across the district returned to school for the first time in six months.

The Stray Ferret has been outside the gates of St Aidan’s High School speaking to parents as they waved their children off for their first day back.

For children starting year 7, today is a particularly big milestone: the first day at high school, unfamiliar surroundings, new friends – and on top of this, having to get used to a strange ‘new normal’ with covid restrictions in place.

Ruth Dunn, Mum of a year 7 pupil at St Aidan’s.

Mary Buck, was one of those at the gates, saying goodbye to her daughter who was starting high school today.

“It makes it worse when she’s crying as it makes me cry. Normally her big sister would have been able to walk her in, but she wasn’t allowed with covic.

“My daughter has a medical issue, she doesn’t know her form tutor, she doesn’t know where she’s going. Normally they have a half-day and then a full day induction but they haven’t had this this year.

“The transition from primary to high school is a big change and they didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye to all their primary friends.”

Despite the nerves and emotion felt among the pupils and parents, most expressed how important it is that they get back to school.

Another mum who was also dropping her child off for her first day at high school said:

“It couldn’t have gone on any longer – the children’s mental health was going to suffer. I feel very reassured by the school, It is my daughter’s first ever day at St Aidan’s but I know they have great processes in place.”

The headteacher at St Aidan’s, Chris Burt, told the Stray Ferret that he recognises the significant step from primary school to secondary school:

“We have been delighted to welcome Year 7 into St Aidan’s for the first time today. Throughout the day. students will familiarise themselves with the building, meet their fellow students, meet their teachers and get a good feel for what a typical day will be like going forwards.

“The transition from primary to secondary school is a significant step for many students in normal circumstances; ever more so in the context that we are all working in at present and our staff and dedicated pastoral team are on hand to support them throughout.

“We are incredibly proud of how all of our students have coped over the last five months and we look forward to having everyone back in school tomorrow.”

Union concerns over disabled teachers returning to district’s schools

Teachers’ unions have said they are concerned about the safety of teachers with disabilities returning to school in the Harrogate district. Most schools re-open tomorrow morning.

Sharon Calvert, local representative for the NASUWT Teachers’ Union, said the union had received particular concern from those who work in secondary schools.

It comes as pupils are set to return to school this week with a number of “significant changes” in place at schools across the district in an effort to abide by social distancing guidelines.

But Ms Calvert said unions are still concerned over the safety of vulnerable teachers who may be at risk from the virus and what procedures are in place to protect staff.

She said:

“The top and bottom of it is that teachers had concerns about returning to school and we have got issues with teachers who have disabilities.

“There is a lot of concern because it is the most vulnerable who are at risk. It seems to be that people who are disabled are ignored.”

Union bosses said they have offered their members advice and guidance on returning to school, including a feedback form on the safety of their workplace.

It comes as schools across the district have put in place measures ahead of the return of pupils for the new term.

Measures include wearing face masks and separating year groups.

Among those to have announced the adaptations is Harrogate Grammar School with a number of “significant changes” in place to ensure safety and limit coronavirus outbreaks.

The school has reorganised classrooms and the cafeteria, staggered lunch and finish times and put in place a contingency plan for those needing to self-isolate. Additional cleaning staff have also been hired.

Meanwhile, North Yorkshire County Council has put on extra buses in the district in order to reduce the risk of coronavirus among pupils going back to school.

The Department for Education has said it is committed to ensuring that pupils and staff return safely to school.

COLUMN: The head of Harrogate Grammar reflects on how “the world has changed”

This column is written for The Stray Ferret by Neil Renton, the Head Teacher of Harrogate Grammar School:

The world has changed; the equilibrium has been disrupted. Within a period of three weeks we have effectively shut down our school and we are trying to see around all the different bends ahead of us and somewhere in the distance is a new equilibrium.

During the February break, I received a number of calls from a member of staff who was leading our ski trip to Northern Italy. A student had broken his wrist in a fall and we discussed how we would get him home as we felt he should be with his family and receive treatment from the NHS. The week after, our work on Coronavirus began as we received news of lockdowns, category 1 and 2 areas in Northern Italy. Some individuals who had been on the ski trip self-isolated, but we kept school open and we started to communicate about the virus, and stress the importance of washing hands. Things developed at a pace in the wider world and we then cancelled an exchange trip to Germany. Within a couple of weeks, we had reduced the number of year groups in school due to staff absence. Then, the Prime Minister announced that schools would close. As a result, our school population of over 2000 children and 300 staff on site was reduced to 15 students per day and a similar number of staff. We said our rushed goodbyes to Year 11 and Year 13. The rest of our school population were told to teach, learn and work from home.

You are constantly learning when you lead an organisation and in my first year of Headship, I wasn’t expecting this. In the space of a short period of time, we have not only created a mini-school within our school for the children of key workers and vulnerable children, but also shifted all working practices online. This includes teaching and learning, line management, briefings and training. In the background, we have studied the financial impact, studied guidance on how students will be given centre assessed grades without sitting exams, set up systems to support families with free school meals and created new safeguarding policies for new ways of working. We have done this whilst staying positive, standing tall, but remembering to keep two metres apart. Leading in a period of rapid change, not surprisingly, creates new challenges and many unintended consequences.

Many of those unintended consequences involve stories of acts of kindness and stories of resilience. One of our Sixth Form students left flowers on his neighbours’ doorsteps; my colleagues in the Design Faculty have pulled together, developing a prototype visor using the laser printer, before manufacturing 1000 visors, in a week, to help support with personal protective equipment for health professionals. I also like the story of one of our youngest students who gets dressed in their uniform every day so that they can keep a routine when they learn at home. I have a real sense of pride in how our whole community has responded to the many challenges that we have faced. These acts of kindness and the resilience of our community show real strength in a period when everyone is adapting in a moving equilibrium.

Our online routines start again this week, but I really hope we can return, safe and well, to school soon.

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Nearby schools full

Future of site unclear

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