A Sefton Council Cabinet report has laid bare the extent of the difficulties being faced at St Teresa’s School in Birkdale, leading Governors to recommend full closure of the school.
The report from Vicky Buchanan, Sefton Council’s Executive Director of Children’s Social Care & Education, recommends that: “members agree to begin formal consultation process on the closure of St Teresa’s Catholic Infant School”
A statement from the school’s Governors confirms they have recommended entering consultation over closure but suggested that the issue has been: “compounded by the absence of any assurances about the school having a long-term future”.
The report documents that St Teresas currently only hosts 15 pupils, despite having the capacity for 90 and faces a projected financial deficit of £135,000 by August 2022.
Sefton Council’s Cabinet will discuss the issue at a meeting next Thursday, 4 November. The proposed consultation schedule, which would open in November, will see the school close in August, after the end of the current school year.
The report says: “St Teresa’s Catholic Infant School has suffered from falling pupil numbers since receiving a poor Ofsted judgement and they have never fully recovered from this even after achieving a good Ofsted judgement in February 2018. There has also been a decline in the nursery/infant population in the area which has exacerbated the problem.
“On 30th July 2020 Cabinet agreed to cease the statutory closure process for St Teresa’s Infant School and to allow the Governing Body time to implement the revised financial plan which they had presented to Members. The Governors gave Members assurance that the revised financial plan would bring the school back into a balanced budget position and make it viable going forward.
“The Governing Body have now explored all avenues to increase pupil numbers and reduce the financial issues however this has not impacted on an upturn in pupil numbers. The Governing Body contacted the LA and the Archdiocese on 20th October 2021 to ask the LA to consider consulting to close the school.
“St Teresa’s Catholic Infant School now has 15 pupils on roll as at October 2021 which means that the surplus capacity is now 75 or 83.33%. All pupils would be accommodated in Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School, which is the feeder school for children in Key Stage 2.
“St Teresa’s Catholic Infant School has been struggling financially for several years and the Governing Body has worked hard to reduce costs but have unfortunately not been able to set a balanced budget since 2018/19.
“The school ended the 2020/21 financial year with a deficit of -£55,316 and although the Governing Body has made several staffing adjustments in August 2021 the current budget shows the deficit rising to -£134,466 by the end of the current financial year.”
A statement from the school’s board of governors says: “It is with deep regret that the Governing Body of St.Teresa’s R.C. Infant & Nursery school, Birkdale, reluctantly accepts that Sefton Council propose a managed closure process starting as soon as possible and that sets in motion a process that ensures the best outcomes for its children and staff.
“The Governors have taken this very difficult decision in the best interests of all our pupils, their families and the staff. The current low pupil numbers and continued uncertainty over the future of the school are making it extremely difficult for the school leadership and teachers to provide the highest quality education experience that the children deserve and that dedicated professionals like those of St.Teresa’s would wish to provide. The falling roll, compounded by the absence of any assurances about the school having a long-term future that could have provided the necessary encouragement to prospective families wanting to commit to St.Teresa’s for their children, has, over time, also created a budget with an increasing deficit. Having considered this very carefully, the Governors do not want this
situation to continue.
“Although our excellent pupils continue to work hard and do their best, they do this against a background of understandable parental concerns over the school’s future, increasing anxiety among the staff and no clear timescale over when decisions will be made by appropriate authorities.
“Since an unexpectedly adverse Ofsted report in 2016, the Governors have tried every possible initiative to reverse a gradual decline in pupil numbers which can make any school extremely vulnerable. Governors have marketed the school using every means possible, promoting it at every opportunity, made new appointments that led to a ‘Good’ Ofsted report in 2018 and ensured that the budget was managed as economically as possible since pupil-led funding was consistently declining due to the falling roll.
“The Governors also requested structural changes such as a reduced pupil admission number, a federation with another local Catholic school, as well as an expansion to admit Key Stage 2 (KS2) pupils that would have allowed children to stay at St.Teresa’s through to 11 years-old.
“We felt that these initiatives would have helped to ensure the future of the school as well as meeting the expressed needs and wishes of parents, past and present. Ultimately, Governors could not implement initiatives such as the KS2 expansion without the agreement of other
authorities. We accept that there are different legitimate views over these initiatives.
“The Governors have always sought to act with integrity and in the best interests of the school, its pupils and its staff and always hoped our prolonged efforts would preserve a well-established and much-loved small Catholic school; we now accept this is no longer possible.
“Governors do not wish to prejudice the futures of the remaining children, for whom parents will need to find alternative schools, nor the staff who will require re-deployment or redundancy payments. We wish to co-operate with, and be led by, the Council and the Archdiocese in the spirit of the Gospel and with the willingness to work together for the welfare of all involved including the Governors themselves who, as volunteers, have shown considerable dedication to the school and have, despite many setbacks, maintained over time their efforts to support St.Teresa’s to the best of their ability.
“Governors request that there is a prompt response to this statement, that Sefton Local Authority assumes the role of proposer in the process that follows in relation to the statutory process set out in the DfE document ‘Opening and Closing Maintained Schools (November 2019)’, and that communications be agreed with all parties for purposes of clarity and to prevent unhelpful rumours.
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