Pre-publication Consultation on the proposed closure of High School

Church of England High School is a voluntary aided mainstream school for boys and girls and is part of the educational provision of the Diocesan Board of Education and the Borough. 

Governing Board, in consultation with Demo Council and the  Diocesan Board of Education have formally commenced the statutory process for the proposed closure of the school in August 2020 following completion of Year 11 GCSE examinations.

The main reasons for the proposed closure are: the school is no longer considered viable both in terms of its ability to deliver a full and balanced curriculum as well as financial sustainability due to low pupil numbers. There has been a decline in pupil numbers over a number of years and the school was rated as ‘Requiring Improvement’ by Ofsted following an inspection in November 2016. A large portion of funding received by schools is directly related to the number of pupils attending the school.

In line with the Department for Education’s (DFE) guidance Opening and Closing Maintained Schools (2018), subject to approval, the council will be following the statutory process for closing a maintained school which consists of:
• Pre-publication consultation
• Publication of statutory notice
• Representation / formal consultation
• Decision by the council’s cabinet committee on the school closure proposal.

The pre-publication consultation will run from 25 February 2019 to 05 April 2020.