Federation Consultation document

 Beenham
Primary School
The Governing Bodies of Beenham and
Bucklebury Primary Schools
would welcome your views
on the proposal
to federate the two schools
with effect from Monday 13th July 2015.
Consultation Period: 25th March to 11th May 2015
Dear Parent / Carer / Staff Member
The forthcoming retirement of Mrs Rowe, head teacher of Bucklebury Primary School, has given the
governing body of that school an opportunity to re-evaluate future options for the school. At the same
time, the governing body of Beenham Primary School has been considering the best options for that
school. With both schools having researched and discussed in depth, the two governing bodies have
investigated forming a hard Federation between the two schools. If this were to take place, Mrs
Butcher, the current head teacher of Beenham, would be appointed as the overall head teacher of the
Federated schools.
Your involvement is crucial
Whilst both governing bodies support the federation option, we will not make any decision until we
have heard your views. The purpose of this document is to explain more about the proposal and
identify how you can contribute to the consultation. We would be grateful if you could read this
document and let us know what you think about the proposal by completing the attached
questionnaire.
The governing bodies believe this is an excellent opportunity for both schools and a federated
arrangement would be positive for children, parents and staff. However, please remember this is only
a proposal at this stage and the governing bodies will not be making any decisions until we have
heard your views – so please let us know your thoughts.
Douglas Buchanan
Chair of Governors
Beenham Primary School
Iain Davies
Chair of Governors
Bucklebury C of E Primary School
2 A new opportunity for
Bucklebury and
Beenham Primary
Schools
The Governors of Bucklebury and Beenham Primary Schools are seeking your views on whether the
two schools should enter into a Federation.
In this document, we will explain:
ü what a federation would involve
ü the benefits which a federation could bring for our children
ü why we are considering federating
ü what changes you will see if we federate, and what will not change
ü what we are asking you to do now
ü what happens next
The Proposal
The Governing bodies of Bucklebury and Beenham Primary Schools are proposing that the two
schools enter into a formal partnership in the form of a “hard federation” with a single governing body
and a single head teacher (Mrs Butcher) with effect from 13th July 2015. This proposal is fully
supported by the Local Authority and the Diocese.
3 Headlines
ü By federating we are creating the opportunity to gain improvements in governing and managing
both schools for the benefit of existing and future pupils
ü A single governing body would assume responsibility for both schools
ü Mrs Butcher would be responsible for the management and learning in both schools
ü Both schools would continue to have their own distinctive ethos and community values
ü Bucklebury will continue as a Voluntary Controlled Church of England school and Beenham will
continue as a Community school
ü Economies of scale will be achieved and monies saved will be invested in both schools
What is a hard federation?
A hard federation is a way that two or more schools formally choose to work together. With a hard
federation a joint governing body is formed that replaces the individual governing bodies from
member schools.
Each school would keep its current status – Beenham would remain a community school and
Bucklebury would remain a Church of England school. Both would stay part of the West Berkshire
Local Authority.
This is not the same as forming an Academy. With an
Academy, the schools would merge into one school. With a
federation, the two schools remain as separate schools. We
feel that it is very important to protect the individual
distinctiveness of our two schools, and this can be achieved in a
federation.
4 What are the benefits for our Children?
ü Enhanced learning opportunities at both schools, including
o Opportunities for children to work together on projects
o Possibilities of joint teams at sporting events
o Children get to know a wider range of other pupils
o Pooling of resources to better support disadvantaged pupils
ü Greater opportunities to ‘stretch’ more advanced pupils
ü Shared expertise of staff from both schools
ü Sharing of resources and facilities
ü Joint curriculum initiatives
ü Shared purchasing opportunities such as buying equipment or negotiating contracts give
economies of scale, and mean more of our total budget can be spent on learning activities
What are the benefits for Parents and Carers?
ü Both schools can share resources
ü Both schools have a great deal of teaching expertise. By sharing best practice between both
schools, this will be strengthened further
ü Research shows that federations have higher staff retention than individual schools, due to the
increased opportunities available to staff
ü By having shared residential trips, we can offer cost savings
What are the benefits for Staff?
Working for a federation provides many of the same advantages of working for a larger school,
ü such as greater stability security and opportunities, whilst still providing the major benefit of
working within a small school environment, and as part of a tight knit team
ü increased training and professional development opportunities
ü greater potential to develop leadership by creating opportunities for senior and middle leaders
5 What are the benefits for Governors?
A single governing body across two schools means a greater pool of people able to provide their
expertise to the governing body, and we can take advantage of skills and experience in a wider local
community. As part of this initiative, the governing body expects standards to rise in both schools.
The federated governing body will be committed to
ü further strengthening each schools individual ethos
ü providing excellent educational opportunities to all children
ü responsibly sharing the budget across two schools to maximize opportunities at both
ü setting clearly defined objectives, roles and policies that ensure the federated governing body
focuses on whole child, learning-based school improvement for all
How do the schools compare?
Type of School Premises Pupil Numbers Number of classes Beenham Rural Fairly modern 100 4 Bucklebury Rural Fairly modern 128 5 In both schools, classes are split across year groups, and children move to different classes for
different topics to ensure they are always receiving the most appropriate education for their individual
needs.
Bucklebury is a Church of England School, and so is built upon a Christian Foundation. Beenham is a
Community school, and the Values based education used at Beenham provides a different but
equally strong foundation to school life.
Both schools were rated as Good by Ofsted at their most recent inspection, although while
Bucklebury was inspected in January 2015, Beenham has not (at time of writing) been inspected
since 2009.
Both schools regularly have results that are above average, with progress and attainment being
considered to be better than National Averages.
6 Why are we considering this?
For a number of reasons. There is much research evidence that larger rural schools, and federations
of schools are more likely to be considered Outstanding by Ofsted, as compared to small schools.
Every school, regardless of size, have the same range of management activities, but small schools
have fewer staff than larger schools, meaning that a higher proportion of leadership time is spent on
administration.
The Oxford Diocese has done its own research, and
recommends that all smaller rural schools should form larger
federations because they believe this leads to faster school
improvement. This applies equally to Church schools and
community schools, and to federations that include schools of
different types. Shared expertise and resources in conjunction
with more strategic leadership lead to faster improvements in standards. Joint purchasing provides
financial benefits.
Who will be in charge at each school? Under the proposal which the governors have been considering, Mrs Butcher, the current
headteacher of Beenham, would become the head teacher of the Federation. An appropriate
management structure would be put in place to ensure that each school had appropriate
management ‘on the ground’ at all times.
The biggest change in a federation is that there would be a single Governing Body setting the
strategic direction for both schools.
How would Beenham manage with less of Mrs Butcher’s time?
Mrs Butcher is a highly skilled and well respected head teacher. The National College for Teaching
and Learning have appointed her a ‘Local Leader in Education’ (LLE). West Berkshire have also
recognised her abilities by appointing her as an associate School Improvement Adviser. In this
capacity Mrs Butcher has previously spent time working with other schools in the area. If the
federation is formed, she will instead be spending this time working with Bucklebury School.
7 How would Bucklebury manage without a permanent Head
teacher?
There would always be leaders available at both schools – an appropriate management structure
would be put in place to ensure this. One of the aims of federating would be to build a stronger
leadership team across both schools. Arguably this would put each school in a better position than is
currently the case if, for example, the head teacher is ill.
What happens to our existing
Governing Body?
The governing bodies (GB) of each school would be
dissolved, and replaced by a GB for the federation, who would
be responsible for strategic direction at both schools.
What would be the composition of the federated Governing
Body?
The federation GB would have 15 members.
ü Headteacher
ü One additional staff governor
ü One Local Authority governor
ü Two parent governors
ü Three Foundation governors
ü Seven co-opted governors
The staff governor will be chosen by an election process of all staff. One parent governor will be
chosen by an election process of all parents from each school. Beenham GB does not have
Foundation governors. They are present in all Church of England schools. As the Federated GB
would be responsible for Bucklebury, which is a Church of England school, the federated GB will
have Foundation Governors to maintain the Church ethos at that school. Of course the Foundation
Governors will be full governors and part of the decision making body on both schools.
8 Where are we in this process?
Governors have discussed many of the legal aspects to forming a Federation. The next stage is to
consult with parents and staff, as well as other stakeholders. The publication of this document marks
the start of the consultation period. You can give your views by completing the attached
questionnaire. If you wish your views to be considered, they must be received by 11th May 2015.
At the end of this period, the governors will consider views received from both schools, and then
decide whether it is still appropriate to continue with this process. Please note that the final decision
can only be taken by the Governors. The purpose of this consultation is to seek your views – it is not
a vote. Because of Bucklebury’s status as a Church school, the approval of the Diocese is also
needed.
What will change?
The Leadership?
The main reason to have a federation is to have the flexibility with regard to leadership. Currently our
two schools have 220 pupils, and two head teachers. A single school with 220 pupils would have one
head teacher. Changing to a federation gives us efficiency advantages of a larger school, but retains
the friendly and caring small individual schools that we all love.
What happens with the various resources used in teaching?
Both schools have large collections of resources to help with teaching. Under the federation, all of this
would be sharable and usable by staff from either school. Thus for no extra money, a greater range of
activities would be available during lessons.
What happens to School budgets and funding?
Both our schools are funded by West Berks. The total funding is unchanged by federating. However
the Governing Body would have flexibility on how the money is spent across both schools. For
example, it could use money from both schools to purchase a shared resource.
Who employs staff in a federation?
All staff continue to be employed by West Berks, and the existing employment contracts are
completely unchanged. It is likely that existing staff will be offered opportunities to work across both
schools if they wish, but this will not be compulsory.
9 What won’t change?
The most important thing to understand is that both schools have their own distinctive ethos, and this
won’t change. Bucklebury School is built upon its Christian foundations, and this church ethos is very
important to the staff and governors. Bucklebury would remain a Church of England school. Beenham
School is a strong proponent of Values based education, and will remain a Community School.
ü School uniform would remain unchanged at each school.
ü No changes to morning start times or afternoon pickup times.
ü Individual school names will not change
ü Each schools would maintain their office staff, and access to visit the school to discuss questions
with teachers will not change.
ü Both schools will continue to run individual websites.
ü Admission arrangements would remain under the control of West Berkshire, and will not change.
ü School catchment areas are determined by West Berkshire, and would not be affected.
ü Both schools will continue to be funded by West Berks, and the level of funding is unchanged by
these proposals.
10 Consultation Questionnaire
Before making a decision whether to create a Federation, Governors need to hear your views. To
achieve this, we are undertaking a consultation process over the next six weeks.
Please complete the questionnaire below and return to either school office by 11th May 2015.
At the end of the consultation, we will analyse all the feedback received. The Governing Bodies will
meet to consider the feedback before deciding how to proceed. We will write to all parents/carers and
staff to inform them of the outcome.
Do you like the proposal to federate? Please explain what
you like/dislike about
the proposal
Yes
☐ No
☐
To help us understand your views, could you please answer the following:
I have children at
Beenham
I am a staff member at Other – please describe Beenham
☐
☐
Bucklebury
Bucklebury
☐
☐
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