Disappointment as BCBC go ahead with changes with their eyes shut

Since 2009 we've been blogging and campaigning against BCBC Bridgend Council to leave the catchment area of Maes Yr Haul alone.

After many consultations ,  meetings with residents, meetings with the school governors, the council have decided to ignore the advice at these meetings and push forward the change in catchment.

The cost of purchasing land and the construction of a safe route to school is still unresolved and this could lead to large sums of public money being invested in yet another footpath instead of our borough school services.

Some recommendations around the sibling rule changes for admissions policies has been mentioned and we'll track that issue through the next year to ensure the council stick by their promises!

A further article can be found here: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/south-wales-news/bridgend-maesteg/2011/12/15/parents-left-angry-after-school-catchment-changes-91466-29954737/

Parents left angry after school catchment changes - Bridgend & Maesteg - South Wales Valleys - News from @walesonline

Parents left angry after school catchment changes - Bridgend & Maesteg - South Wales Valleys - News from @walesonline

Education department present at Cabinet the Catchment Change Proposal

We just became aware of the following meeting at Cabinet

It was disappointing that no formal correspondence was provided by Bridgend County Borough Council before the meeting.

 http://www.bridgend.gov.uk/web/groups/public/documents/agenda/095816.hcsp

The report submitted is found here:
http://www.bridgend.gov.uk/web/groups/public/documents/report/095794.doc

Criticism of council in third consultation on changes to school catchment areas in Broadlands and Laleston - Bridgend - Local Welsh News - News from @walesonline

Catchment news in the local Gazette....

Criticism of council in third consultation on changes to school catchment areas in Broadlands and Laleston - Bridgend - Local Welsh News - News from @walesonline

Broadlands Residents Association Press Release - Catchment Change

BROADLANDS RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION

Press Release

31 October 2011

Bridgend County Borough Council’s education department is consulting for a third time on proposed changes to the catchment of Maes yr Haul school in Broadlands and Trelales school in Laleston.

The change has been strongly resisted by many Broadlands residents, who see the plan as unnecessary and harmful to the community.

Residents are also angered by the way in which the Council’s officers have failed to answer key questions about their plans.

Arfon Hughes, Vice-Chair of the Broadlands Residents’ Association, commented:

“Once again the Education Department has put forward proposals to change the school catchment without providing the evidence for change that the Residents’ Association, the school governors and others have asked for.

They seem dead set on altering the catchment of Maes yr Haul school, regardless of whether it is necessary or not. Why do they continue to push this wasteful and unnecessary proposal?  

It is time for the Council to stop playing games with our community and our children’s education.  It should be spending its limited budget on teachers and equipment, not buying land from farmers to build unnecessary footpaths. “

ENDS

For further information visit our website www.broadlandsresidents.org or contact Arfon Hughes on 07590 527038

Latest consultation feedback is required by 1st November 2011

The latest consultation report is still open for feedback, the local community have all received letters updating the residents on the change of catchment plans.

The council are proposing to go ahead with the catchment changes with the north west of Broadlands all being moved to Laleston / Trelales school.

The report still fails to address the purchase costs of land but  provides some benefits to parents with children already at Maes-Yr-Haul.  This isn't the best option for the community - Broadlands children should have the right to attend its local school and the council have omitted many of the facts and figures demonstrating the short term bubble considering the development is approaching an end.

We'll post up some more of those facts in case you wish to write to the council this weekend.

PLEASE respond to the consultation.

The consultation page is here: DOWNLOAD THE REPORT HERE


Please mark for the attention of Ellen Franks, or e-mail Ellen.Franks@bridgend.gov.uk
If you require the consultation document in a different format, please contact Ellen Franks on 01656 642617, email: Ellen.Franks@bridgend.gov.uk

New Catchment change proposal - Option D

The school catchment changes at Broadlands Bridgend are still in a period of revision.   The options are revised once more and an Option D is being considered based on feedback from the original consultation which brings another set of streets into the discussion.

The demographics, the bubble effect of recent years and the fact that the development is at an end are still outstanding issues to be considered or addressed. 

The purchase of land around the new footpath from Broadlands to Laleston is a mute point,  although Laleston Community council has pledged £30k towards its construction, and an estimated £60k to construct it, the cost  of purchasing of land seems to be omitted from the calculations on all counts. 

Update Coming Soon on Maes Yr Haul Catchment

We are aware of a new report being produced in response to the catchment changes.

We'll publish the information as soon as we can.

School Catchment Proposal is Ready

This may well be one of the final update posts to the blog;  The LEA are ready to present their proposal to the cabinet in July.  Over the last 2 years we have had full backing of the residents of Broadlands with  a clear message to Bridgend Borough Council to "Leave Maes Yr Haul School's Catchment Alone!"  The officers of BCBC have not presented conclusive figures to demonstrate a reasonable trend of growth over the next 5 years (considering development on Broadlands has come to an end).

The issues of siblings priority and family unity are specific examples where BCBC have avoided comment nor commitment to keep families together. 

The report didnt get presented at the Cabinet meeting In June, however it is likely this will go to Cabinet in July 2011. 

We hope that the officers report is indeed reflective of the issues raised by the Broadlands Residents association in this document. 

We will keep you updated with the latest status as it happens.

Thanks for all of your support!

Contribution to footpath is "Premature" @glamgazette by @caryshepworth

Spring Bulletin from BCBC features statement on the catchment

The spring bulletin from BCBC mentions the catchment. The bulletin features a statement from Alana Davies - Cabinet member for children and young people comments "... changes to Maes Yr Haul catchment are necessary"....  We hope that the cabinet member thinks about the children first and ensures that families are kept together whatever the outcome.  Its been less than 1 week since the consultation was closed. The report findings are being produced. Again , we hope the report is fair, balanced and takes on board the feedback from residents, parents and carers. 

BCBC Spring Bulletin

More Coverage in the @glamgazette this week

Our concerns have been published in this weeks Gazette - this is the 3rd article in a month - thanks to the Glamorgan Gazette.

The article summarises some of the points raised by the Broadlands Residents association.

You can read the response letter  here 

It is the Association’s view that the proposed catchment changes will have no effect on the immediate problems at the school.  We have identified a potential means of addressing this short term problem and await the education department’s considered response.

In the longer term, we do not consider that the data presented gives a sound basis for determining that any change in catchment is necessary at all.  In view of this, and the serious concerns about the effects of change on our community, we support a no change position.  Even if the education department’s forecasts are accepted, (which they are not) the options presented will have very little substantive effect on the forecast longer term pressure on Maes yr Haul School.  

Broadlands Residents Association Response to BCBC on School Catchment Changes

The formal response from the BRA can be found
here

Maes Yr Haul Catchment Consultation Ends - Watch This Space!

Today marks the end of the public consultation on the Maes-Yr-Haul catchment.

We will continue to post the views, feedback and further updates over the next few weeks - the consultation with the public might have come to an end, however the Bridgend County Borough Council Officers will need to take stock of the feedback from the Broadlands Residents Association, parents, school governors and our local councillors in addition to the true facts and figures, they should be making a BALANCED and TRUE account of the information that has been sent to them.

We will publish some more of this feedback.

We await the findings and will report on them here.

For the people who use TWITTER - please signup here : Twitter

Thanks for your support.

Broadlands Catchment Consultation Ends Tomorrow

Please be aware that the closing date for responding to the catchment proposals is tomorrow. This will mark the end of the public consultation and move into the council's processes to summarise the findings and put forward a final recommendation to cabinet in June.

Keep up to date here on this blog and more on our facebook site: Here

Option B's route to Laleston school from north Broadlands.....

The below map has photographs along the route that BCBC proposes as the safe route to school.Originally, the cost of footpath construction was estimated at £400,000.


View Broadlands to Laleston in a larger map

The council have now estimated £60,000 for the development of a path with lighting up to the main road - however, this excludes the purchase of land - a project which has been said could cost in excess of £100,000*.

These costs are being incurred to overcome a short term "spike" in demand at the school. Based on the age range of residents on the Broadlands development - this is felt to be a short term issue. Surely short term issues should be dealt with by short term measures?. This is all being done at the cost of families who have made their home here - many residents already have children at Maes-Yr-Haul School; Option B+C will cause split schooling. The Bridgend LEA need to take action to protect the existing residents of Broadlands from having this issue and at least consider Sibling priority.


* - there are no published figures for the land aquisition and this was mentioned at the meetings by the officers as a potential figure for the implementation

Catchment Changes - the figures are not clear enough to make the change!

A week before the meeting at Maes-Yr-Haul, the following questions were posed by Arfon Hughes of the residents association to the officers responsible for reporting to cabinet.  There is still no formal response.

This proposal was first presented to committee with a scenario of the school pupil numbers at 2011 (excluding nursery) reaching 621. Your latest data puts the figure for 2011 at 532. This is a material difference that begs the question as to whether change is necessary at all. Can you please explain?

On a related point, the actual intake for Reception at MYH fell from 80 in September 2009 to 68 in September 2010. Again, this is a material change that suggests that your earlier forecasts were incorrect. Again, are you able to explain?

We would also note that the latest forecasts expect the number of Year 1 pupils to increase from 68 to 96 between 2010 and 2011, a 41% increase over a single year, and for similarly high levels to be sustained every year until 2018. What is the justification for this? 

You have indicated that your forecasts are predicated on the numbers of live births in Broadlands. The figure for 2007 was cited in the August 2008 officer report as 106. The most recent report (consultation letter of 1 February, para 4.2) simply states an average of over 100 live births over the past four years. Both the Residents’ Association and the Governors have asked for this evidence base to be explained but no such explanation has been forthcoming. Can you please supply this information?

The assumptions made in the most recent forecasts of school place demand which you kindly supplied to me by email this week present what I think is the nub of the issue: You forecast an intake over a sustained period of 87 pupils against a PAN of 69.

In simple terms, the ‘over subscription’ of MYH is predicated on 87% of all births on the estate translating into demands for school places. Yet in both the Option B and Option C reports prepared by your department, between 31% and 33% of all children in Broadlands attend other schools, for reasons including language and religion. Applying this, existing ratio of children to pupils to future growth would yield a demand of 67-69, matching exactly the PAN figure for the school.

It is the adoption of a higher ‘take up’ rate of places at MYH from new births than trend data indicates which forms the basis for change. Please can you explain why you have adopted such a take up rate?The assumptions made in the most recent forecasts of school place demand which you kindly supplied to me by email this week present what I think is the nub of the issue: You forecast an intake over a sustained period of 87 pupils against a PAN of 69.


It is the adoption of a higher ‘take up’ rate of places at MYH from new births than trend data indicates which forms the basis for change. Please can you explain why you have adopted such a take up rate?In simple terms, the ‘over subscription’ of MYH is predicated on 87% of all births on the estate translating into demands for school places. Yet in both the Option B and Option C reports prepared by your department, between 31% and 33% of all children in Broadlands attend other schools, for reasons including language and religion. Applying this, existing ratio of children to pupils to future growth would yield a demand of 67-69, matching exactly the PAN figure for the school. 

It is the adoption of a higher ‘take up’ rate of places at MYH from new births than trend data indicates which forms the basis for change. Please can you explain why you have adopted such a take up rate?

Community being split in two and Sibling Split schooling

The Local Gazette have published another article this week. This is the 2nd front-page coverage in the last month. A clear issue with all of these options is family unity  - there seems to be little focus on family issues around the options - there are many families who have commented within OPTION B's established areas during the entire consultation period in areas such as  Clos Henblas and Rhodfa Mes where split schooling will certainly impact them; this view is echo'd in the OPTION C's residents views.  The officers at BCBC are not using their powers to influence family unity for either of the options - this should be at the forefront of their paper however was not a real focal point.

Initial article can be found here: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/south-wales-news/bridgend-maesteg/2011/01/27/school-places-furore-91466-28061343/ 

and today's article here: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/south-wales-news/bridgend-maesteg/2011/02/24/our-community-is-being-split-in-two-91466-28223626/

The consultation continues and residents should be writing to the following people

Ellen.Franks@Bridgend.gov.uk; Cabinet_Committee@bridgend.gov.uk;  Mark.Beauchamp@bridgend.gov.uk; Cllr.Alana.Davies@bridgend.gov.uk

Option A - A logical option

Residents and Children on Gypsy Lane

The meetings took place last week at the 2 schools in question, it was clear from the meetings that the figures presented by the LEA brought with them some  "health warnings".

The evidence within the catchment change report suggests there is 100 live births each year and a sustained intake of 87 children, this is an unsubstantiated figure.  Arfon Hughes from the residents association has raised this point in correspondence with the LEA

In simple terms, the ‘over subscription’ of MYH is predicated on 87% of all births on the estate translating into demands for school places.  Yet in both the Option B and Option C reports prepared by your department, between 31% and 33% of all children in Broadlands attend other schools, for reasons including language and religion.  Applying this, existing ratio of children to pupils to future growth would yield a demand of 67-69, matching exactly the PAN figure for the school. 

This is a clear indication of OPTION A being the most logical option. Both of these options are going to cause a major issue for families with children already at the school

Make sure you write into the LEA with your feedback by March 1st.

School Catchment Consultations

A presentation was made yesterday evening 8 February at Maes yr Haul by the education department about their revised plans to change the catchment of the school. Essentially what is proposed is that areas to the north of the school, including those immediately adjacent to it, be taken out of the catchment and placed in the catchment for Trelales. 

Unfortunately the event wasn't advertised beyond parents of children at Maes yr Haul at present. There is a deadline of 1 March for representations. 
The Residents' Association has already made representations highlighting that the case for change hasnot been made and the effect that the proposal will have on the community and parents with more than one child who may end up with children attending two different schools. 

There is a further consultation event at Trelales school TONIGHT Feb 9th at 6pm 

Please email arfon@broadlandsresidents.org for further information, or join our facebook group "Leave Maes yr Haul's Catchment Alone!"

2nd Consultation at Maes Yr Haul School

All views must be received by no later than Tuesday 1^st March 2011.

            You are also welcome to attend the open meeting at one of the two schools concerned:

            Maes yr Haul Primary School:    Tuesday 8^th February 2011 at 7:00pm

            Trelales Primary School:             Wednesday 9^th February 2011 at 6.00pm

Front Page News of this weeks local newspaper

A second consultation on the school catchment to take place...!

A recent posting on BCBC website highlights a further consultation is to take place on the school catchment areas.

http://www.bridgend.gov.uk/web/groups/public/documents/press_release/087789.hcsp#TopOfPage

Residents association

Thanks to the due diligence the association, the document submitted to cabinet and its decision has been deferred. Please review the latest statements on the broadlands residents website

New report produced by Bridgend Council for Cabinet today

We have become aware of a new report filed by BCBC to cabinet

CLICK HERE