Agenda item

The Director of Academy Development to be heard.

The Director of Academy Development was heard regarding the academies development programme and the following points were made.

·         Highgate Hill, Shoreditch Park and Primary Academy Islington were all scheduled to open in September 2017. Newham Collegiate Sixth would open in March 2018 due to ongoing lease negotiations. The London Borough of Newham would provide funding for the period September 2017 – March 2018.

·         There were two issues concerning Highbury Grove, namely the fact that a neighbouring school shared private finance initiative (PFI) infrastructure with Highbury Grove, and second whether a proposed one form of entry (1FE) increase should be deferred one year whilst the school was absorbed into the City of London Academies Trust.

·         In response to a question from a Member, the Director of Academy Development noted that admissions numbers for the three academies were as follows: 130 for Shoreditch Park, 44 for Primary Academy Islington and 86 for Highgate Hill. Both pan London and local factors affected the number of acceptances versus the number of applications.

·         The Chairman noted that the City of London Corporation had overseen a significant expansion of its academy offer in recent years and, given that the skills element of the Education Strategy was an emerging focus of the Board, he would welcome a steer from Members on the proposal that further academy expansion be deferred unless a very pressing case could be made for the City of London Corporation to sponsor a further academy.

·         In response to a comment from the Chairman, the Education Strategy Director noted that capital works to Highbury Grove would not prove an issue to the existing site, as access was directly from the road and would not affect the access to the existing school. Project management would be overseen by the City of London Academies Trust, and the management of Highbury Grove would be supported by both the Executive Principal of City of London Academy Islington and the Chief Executive of the City of London Academies Trust.

·         The Director of Academy Development noted that there was a demand for sixth form places, and that the capacity of an additional Sixth Form block would benefit the City of London Academies Trust as a whole.

·         In response to a question from a Member, the Director of Community and Children’s Services confirmed there had been a pan-London dip in demand for school places and the reasons for this were being examined by London Councils. A wider paper on demand and the future growth of the City’s academy sponsorship would be submitted to a future meeting of the Board.

RESOLVED, that Members approve the deferral of the capital build at Highbury Grove by 12 months to XXXX