Why do we need to review the Pershore education planning area?

Changes to schools in the Pershore education planning area over several years have led to uncertainty and concerns about the sustainability of some schools across the education planning area.

In September 2019 three first schools in the Pershore area were approved to change to primary schools by the Regional Schools Commissioner along with Pershore High School to create an option of a two-tier system of education for families.

The creation of additional places in years 5, 6 and 7 because of the approved changes resulted in an ongoing level of surplus in these year groups - forecast to be 40% in September 2024 and projected to rise further in the future.  This creates significant difficulty for schools in delivering the Key Stage 3 (Year 7, ages 10 to 11) curriculum.

Over the last five years, we have seen parents in the Pershore area choosing a Primary and Secondary (two-tier system) education in their school admissions applications, with an increasing percentage choosing to remain at already converted primary schools and a number choosing to transfer from first to primary schools during Key Stages 1 and 2. This creates a risk to ensuring clear and quality education journeys for pupils.

Ultimately, this transition is being proposed because we want to ensure that:

• every child has a clear and transparent education journey
• schools are supported to deliver good education outcomes in a stable and known education system
• schools are able to deliver a full curriculum and remain sustainable and financially viable

From 2020 to 2021, Worcestershire Children First facilitated engagement with education stakeholders including all schools in the pyramid, Multi-Academy Trusts, the Department for Education’s Regions Group and the Dioceses to find agreed solutions to manage this risk within the education planning area.

In July 2021 all of the schools’ governing bodies and Multi-Academy Trusts confirmed their agreement / intentions to consult on the proposed change to a two-tier Education Planning area, to seek changes of age range (where necessary) and, for the Middle Schools, to amalgamate with the First Schools.

A consultation was held during October and November 2021 which received a total of 270 responses with 78% agreeing and 16% disagreeing on the proposal to convert to a single two-tier system. A further 6% neither agreed nor disagreed.

In April 2022, The Council’s Cabinet agreed a commitment to support a collective change of age range to align schools in the Pershore education planning area to a single two-tier (primary and secondary) system of education, subject to confirmation of the funding necessary to expand Pershore High School Year 7 places. For more information please see agenda and minutes.

Agenda for Cabinet on Thursday, 21st April, 2022, 10.00 am - Worcestershire County Council (moderngov.co.uk)

Public Consultation Engagement 2 September to 29 September 2024

A co-ordinated consultation exercise was held during September, whereby each of the schools proposing a change as part of the area review sought feedback from all parties who may be affected by those changes. 

The reason for the refreshed consultation (see above for the 2021 consultation) was to ensure that all current interested parties had an opportunity to provide feedback on the changes now being proposed. The funding required to expand Pershore High School, which is essential for the proposed changes to proceed, was secured in June 2023, so all of the other proposals can now go ahead if agreed. 

Three years on from the first consultation, there will be parties who will now be affected by the changes that wouldn’t have been previously, and their views are important to schools.

The consultation provided stakeholders with an opportunity to share their views about what is important about the age ranges of schools and transitions from one school to the next. The schools involved are keen to receive responses from all stakeholder groups, including parent carers, school staff, pupils, governing boards, local residents, other local schools and any other interested parties about the changes proposed for each school. 

The consultation closed at noon on Sunday 29 September 2024.

Pershore Education Area Review - Context Proposals Timeline Consultation information (PDF)