1st February 2014
Dear Consultee Consultation on the proposal to lower the age range and enlarge the premises of Simon Balle School to create a 2 form entry primary phase from September 2015. Consultation Overview Over three years ago, when we were still a maintained school, we were approached by the Local Authority to consider becoming an all through school. Since then a series of meetings have taken place to discuss the feasibility and desirability of this proposal. After much careful consideration the Governing Body took the decision to accept the draft plans and as a result is consulting you on the following proposal To enlarge the school premises to support a lowering of the age range to provide a 2 form entry primary phase from September 2015. This means that Simon Balle School would then be able to offer 60 Reception places from September 2015, and will grow each subsequent year thereafter until the primary phase is complete from Reception to Year 6. THERE WILL BE A SEPARATE CONSULTATION FOR PLANNING CONSENT FOR REQUIRED BUILDING WORKS What are the benefits of an all-through school ? As a Governing Body, we consider the opportunity to become an ‘all through’ Academy as a very exciting and positive development for Hertford and the local community. There are a number of advantages to an all age school including the opportunity to be able to offer our educational experience and unique ethos to younger children who are just starting out on their formal educational journey. This is both a logical extension of what we do and an exciting development. When we visited other schools as part of our research we discovered that our vision can be effective in a primary setting, a secondary setting and in an all through school. Nationally this model is being explored by Local Authorities. The advantage in having a shared philosophy and ethos is that it ensures consistency around expectations, pedagogy and the culture of the school. Having our own students from Reception means that they are not moving between different settings with different expectations. There is a distinct advantage getting Key Stage 1 and KS2 teachers working with KS3 and KS4 teachers. Teachers working together across the key stages ensures progression and high expectations. Having all students on one site will enable older students to act as mentors for younger students while primary students benefit from having access to specialist facilities. This is also a natural extension of our current practice of working very closely with our local primary schools.