Proposed amalgamation of Weybourne and William Cobbett Schools

Overview

Surrey County Council, in partnership with the governing bodies of Weybourne Infant School and William Cobbett Junior School, is proposing to amalgamate the two schools to form a Primary School by extending the age range at William Cobbett Junior School and closing Weybourne Infant School. The resulting extended primary school would incorporate both existing sites.

Why your views matter

Both schools serve the Weybourne area of northern Farnham and both offer good education for all of their students. The two schools are on adjacent sites and the vast majority of students who attend Weybourne Infant School naturally transfer to William Cobbett Junior School. In such situations it is Surrey policy to consider amalgamation as it is felt that this secures the best future for all children.

In addition, the headteacher at William Cobbett Junior School is retiring at the end of the academic year; which offers an ideal opportunity to recruit a new headteacher to lead forward an amalgamated primary school. It is becoming increasingly difficult to recruit headteachers, particularly to small schools, and the range of teaching and leadership opportunities in a larger primary school represents a greater challenge for headteachers in post as well as aspiring headteachers.

We also feel that there are specific advantages of primary organisation over separate infant and junior schools such as:

• a seamless transition from Key Stage 1 (Infants) to Key Stage 2 (Juniors)
• greater ability to track pupil progress between key stages
• greater opportunities for curriculum development
• greater opportunities for staff development
• greater flexibility with a larger budget to deploy staff and curriculum resources effectively
• greater opportunities for staff recruitment

Two public meetings were held on 5th March at 7.00pm at Weybourne Infant, and on 10th March at 3.30pm at William Cobbett. A brief overview of these meetings, including a record of the questions and answers provided, is attached.

What happens next

A summary of responses received during the consultation is now included in the 'Related Documents'. A statutory notice detailling the proposals will be published on Monday 27th April for four weeks. The proposal will be taken to the Cabinet Member for Schools and Learning for a decision in June 2015.