Following consultation on a proposal to permanently expand Spring Bank Primary School using a site located on Buckingham Road off Headingley Lane owned by the Grammar School at Leeds, it has been determined that the proposal will not progress further. A summary of the outcome of the consultation can be found here.
Leeds City Council will continue to explore other options for increasing primary school provision in the Headingley area.
The consultation on a proposal to expand Spring Bank Primary School was due to finish Monday 14th March. However, due to concerns raised regarding the length of this particular consultation period, we are extending this until 4pm on Thursday 24th March 2016 to allow more time for stakeholders to ask questions and put forward their views on the proposal to expand the school from 30 to 60 places in reception from 2018 using the Rose Court site of the Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL).
Due to recent increases in the number of children aged 0-5 who live in the Hyde Park and Headingley areas, it has been identified that additional school places are required to meet the need for local families.
We are now seeking your views on the following proposal: To expand Spring Bank Primary School from a capacity of 210 to 420 pupils by increasing the admission limit in Reception from 30 to 60 pupils with effect from September 2018. It would take several years for the school to reach full capacity.
The proposal would require additional accommodation, which cannot be provided on the existing Spring Bank site due to site restrictions. An opportunity has emerged for the council to acquire a suitable site in the vicinity of Spring Bank Primary School which would be of a sufficient size to provide the extra accommodation required. This site, located on Buckingham Road off Headingley Lane, is currently owned by the Grammar School at Leeds and is known as Rose Court.
The consultation runs from Thursday 25 February to Monday 14 March 2016 at 4pm. We are holding informal drop-in sessions at Spring Bank Primary School where officers will be available to answer any questions or concerns on the following dates and times:
Friday 4 March 8.30am-10.00am (postponed)
Friday 4 March 3.00pm-4.30pm
Wednesday 9 March 8.30am – 10.00am (replacement for postponed session)
Wednesday 9 March 6.00pm-7.30pm
You may leave a comment or discuss this proposal by clicking the ‘leave a reply’ button at the bottom of the page. If you wish to respond formally, please click here to take our survey. You can also find out more information from our Consultation booklet Spring Bank. You can contribute to this part of the discussion until Monday 14 March 4pm.
If any of the information above is required in large print / Braille / alternative language version of the document please contact us:-
email: educ.school.organisation@leeds.gov.uk
Write to us at: Leeds City Council, Leeds Town Hall, PO Box 837, Capacity Planning and Sufficiency Team, Leeds, LS1 9PZ.
This part of the discussion on providing additional school places in Headingley has now closed. To preserve the integrity of the thread no further comments will be approved. However there will be an opportunity to comment on any proposed solutions when they are posted here in the near future.
We will update this page when we have more information to share.
Context
Leeds City Council has a legal duty to ensure the provision of sufficient school places in the city, and due to a rising birth rate and new housing developments, has established an on-going city wide school expansion programme to meet increased demand for school places. Headingley is an area in the city where we are seeing an increased demand for primary age places. Data from various sources identifies that a need for an additional 30 reception places (equivalent to up to 1 form of entry) may be needed across the area by 2017.
As part of the process for identifying options and reviewing school place provision in Leeds, a Stakeholder Engagement Event using Outcome Based Accountability (OBA) methodology was held on 19 January 2015. The aim was to bring key stakeholders together to discuss the issues and generate ideas and solutions. Attendees at the event included school governors, head teachers, elected members, parent group representatives and officers from teams across the council including School Capacity Planning, Highways, Planning and Built Environment.
A summary of the suggestions put forward:
Please note that these suggestions may not have been put forward by representatives of the stated school and therefore may not represent that school’s governing body view. In addition, there are also a number of practical barriers to some of the options put forward, including traffic and highways matters. Where sites or land use is suggested, this land may not be available or in Leeds City Council ownership and would therefore need further investigation.
1. Lawnswood School to become a through school, by establishing primary provision on the current site or utilising any available land nearby.
2. Abbey Grange C of E Academy to become a through-school by establishing primary provision on a split-site.
A number of sites have been put forward, although some of these are not in council ownership or are not currently available for school use. Further investigations would need to take place to determine whether these sites could be used for school provision.
3. Encourage any of the three major Universities of Leeds (University of Leeds, Leeds Beckett University or Leeds Trinity) to propose an Academy or Free School for primary (and possibly secondary) provision in the area. This school could operate as an international school, working in partnership with willing local primary schools in the area with an emphasis on accommodating children of the transient populations who live and work around the universities.
This option was not put forward by representatives of the University.
4. Expand St Chad’s C of E Primary School from 1 form of entry (30 places in reception) to 2 forms of entry (60 places in reception), utilising land at the former West Park Centre site.
Although the West Park Centre is owned by Leeds City Council, it is not currently available for school use. Further investigations would need to take place to determine whether this site could be used for school provision.
5. The Abbey Multi-Academy Trust could propose a new Free School to offer primary provision on a site yet to be specified in the Headingley area.
6. Investigate the use of the former Beckett’s Park School site for its potential as a new specialist setting for children with complex communication difficulties. This would free up space at other local schools allowing them to take additional children.
7. Re-purpose a portion of the West Park Centre site to establish communal facilities to be used by all local primary schools. This specialist setting could offer a central resource for sports and music for example and free up space at local schools allowing them to expand.
We would welcome your comments on the above suggestions or any other options you feel we should consider.
Leeds School Place Planning 