Consultation on the proposed expansion of Haddenham St Mary's CE School
Monday 30th November 2015 to Monday 25th January 2016
You may be aware that over the last few years there has been an increasing demand for new primary school places in Buckinghamshire. This now means a need for additional infant school places in the Haddenham area from September 2016.
Haddenham St Mary's CE School has been exploring options with regards to expansion proposals to allow additional children to be accommodated. At the request of the school admissions team we accepted an extra 15 children above our normal intake of 30 in September 2014 and September 2015. Now the Governors of our School, in partnership with Buckinghamshire County Council, are proposing to permanently increase the number of places available at Haddenham St Mary's by 15 from 1st September 2016, taking the school from an annual intake of 30 to 45. This will mean that from next September, the school will have a capacity to accommodate 135 children. There is capacity at Haddenham Community Junior School to accommodate these extra children.
The proposal to expand, which is in line with the aims and mission of our School, is fully supported by the Governing Body. Most importantly the size of the proposed increase in pupil numbers will not compromise the school's ability to know and cater for pupils on an individual basis and retain our ethos of 'excellence, care and fun for all' on a daily basis.
This expansion would be achieved by adding some additional classroom and ancillary space at the gable end of the school hall. Improved access and parking on the school site are also being proposed as the school will need additional staff. The School Travel Plan will consider how to minimise congestion on the green at drop off and collection times. All of this would allow the additional children to be successfully accommodated over the next few years.
You may be aware that a development of around 250 houses has been agreed on the airfield site and there is a proposal for further housing in the village. The present design for the 0.5fe expansion (15 children) has been future proofed such that it could be expanded in the future to accommodate a further 0.5fe expansion (15 children per year group) to accommodate demand for school places generated from the proposed housing in the village.
The expansion of the school would provide us with a number of benefits and ensure the continuity of the highest standards of education, including:
- improved buildings and learning environment
- improved facilities for key areas of the curriculum
- improved recruitment and staff development
- greater flexibility and efficiency in the deployment of staff and resources
- sufficient primary school places in the local area to meet forecast demand.
The co-operation and participation of all involved will maximise the success of this solution to address the current lack of provision for school places in the area. We would therefore welcome your feedback during this formal consultation phase.
We appreciate that this communication may raise questions for you and in order to address this we are holding a drop-in session at Haddenham St Mary's CE School on Thursday 3rd December. This will provide us with an opportunity to share our ideas with you face to face, hear your views and answer any questions that you may have. The drop-in session will take place between 5.30pm and 7.30pm in the Reception class room (Rainbow One). You will be able to put your questions on the proposed expansion of the school and the build project to a range of people including Governors, School representatives, Officers from Buckinghamshire County Council and the Architects who are designing the new accommodation.
In addition to the meeting we are also holding a public consultation on the proposals and we would be grateful if you would complete the attached response form and return it by 5pm on Monday 25th January 2016. You can bring the form into school, post it to the County Council at the address shown on the form or email it to stmhconsult@buckscc.gov.uk.
We look forward to hearing your views and hope that you will respond to the consultation.
Yours sincerely
Karen Collett, Headteacher
Gaynor Bull, Chair of Governors
