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Why we are proposing closure?

The County Council recognises that a school plays an important role in its community and is always reluctant to propose closure unless it is absolutely necessary. Consideration has been given to what else could be done before reaching the conclusion that closure should be proposed by the County Council.

We could continue to support the Norton School improvement efforts but we do not see what more we or the school could do to improve matters within an acceptable timescale. Recruitment strategies at the school are not working and other schools feel unable to offer their own staff to support Norton, because of their staffing needs. Schools identified by Ofsted as either having “serious weaknesses” or requiring “special measures”, and particularly small schools, are less attractive to new and experienced teachers alike. Their ability to offer significantly more pay to attract teachers is limited by their budgets, which are determined by a legal scheme of delegation. The situation could worsen.

We have also considered launching a new school on the same site as the existing school. This would close the old school and start a completely new school, with new teachers. We believe that this is also unlikely to be successful because of current staff recruitment difficulties.

We also considered if the school could become a Church school. Again, it is likely that the school would still experience similar problems with recruitment. It could take an unacceptably long time to make a difference to pupils’ education.

The County Council’s proposed approach is therefore to close Norton School and expand Fearnhill, The Highfield and Knights Templar Schools. This way forward would:

secure good education provision for existing and future pupils;

build on the strengths of Fearnhill, The Highfield and Knights Templar;

produce larger schools better able to withstand impending changes to the National Curriculum, especially the 14-19 curriculum;

be more attractive to prospective teachers;

better meet the particular needs of the communities they serve, e.g. Knights Templar would be able to provide places for more Baldock and surrounding village children; and

remove uncertainty for Norton’s staff and provide greater career development opportunities for them.

One reason for the proposal is that it builds upon the strengths of local schools. If the proposal goes ahead, current and future pupils will attend better performing local schools. GCSE results in the area have been:



% achieving GCSE 5+ A*-C

School	2001
Fearnhill	53%
The Highfield	44%
Knights Templar	77%
Norton	28%

It is the case that most parents in the area want places for their children at Fearnhill, The Highfield and Knights Templar schools. First rankings for the schools in the area have been:

First rankings

School	2001/2002	2002/2003
Fearnhill	115	177
The Highfield	192	164
Knights Templar	198	230
Norton	63	47

In the interests of pupils and staff at Norton School we believe that action needs to be taken quickly. The County Council is therefore proposing to close Norton School on 31 August 2002.

If the proposed closure goes ahead, additional places would be made available at Fearnhill, The Highfield or Knights Templar schools. All pupils currently at Norton School and those who have been allocated a place for September 2002 would be reallocated to one of those schools. For September 2003, the published admission limits for those schools would be raised.

Nothing has been decided. We know this consultation will cause anxiety and uncertainty but it is important that the County Council knows your views.