INFORMAL CONSULTATION
Proposal to amalgamate Golborne Children Centre and
Maxilla Nursery School
Background
Both nursery schools have a rich history rooted in community activism and support. In 2013 these two local nurseries federated. The building that Maxilla occupied was turned over to private use and 7 staff and 25 children moved into a shared site within the Golborne building. Golborne has operated as a nursery school, rather than a children centre since 2015 (due to the physical space). We have continued to use the outdoor space at Maxilla as our Forest School offering a wonderful external learning space for our children.
The Proposal
The Governors of Golborne & Maxilla are proposing to amalgamate (also referred to as merging) the two nursery schools to form one nursery school. The proposal is supported by the headteacher.
There are many benefits of becoming a single nursery school including time and money efficiencies (more detail provided later in the document), and we recommend this change to you.
Parents play a key part in our school community and your feedback is important to us. The Governors are now seeking, and welcome, parents’ views on this proposal (details on how to share feedback are provided below).
Why are we proposing the change?
Golborne & Maxilla runs as one school in most ways. There is one governing body, one head teacher, one staff, one ethos, one school site. However, legally we are two schools,
What are the benefits of becoming one nursery school?
- It will be more time effective to be one school rather than two
Currently two lots of information need to be provided such as on pupil progress, number of children receiving additional support, pupil premium and so on. This separation impacts negatively on staff work load without a positive impact for pupils.
- One school, with one name will enhance our offer
Currently, as two schools there are two DFE numbers, and this has caused issues and difficulties such as: confusion for new parents when applying / starting, when there are inspections, when allocating students, having to clarify that we are not a children centre.
- It will be more cost effective to be one school rather than two
Currently we are making additional payments to run two separate IT systems. There are also complications around how finances are managed.
What will it mean for our children?
There will be no changes to the number of places, types of places, and no changes to the curriculum or provision in any way, including the EY Resource Base. All the children will officially be part of one school.
What will it mean for the staff?
There will be no changes to staff terms of employment.
School Name
We propose that new school name will be:
Golborne & Maxilla Nursery School
Consultation process
There are two stages to the consultation process. Firstly, the ‘informal consultation’ which will run from now until November 2022 (inclusive of the half-term break). Following this informal consultation, if it is agreed that this proposal will move to the next stage there will be a statutory notice published by the Local Authority [the local Council] with their statutory ‘formal consultation’. This is likely to happen in the New Year and will be open for four weeks from before a final decision is taken.
Admissions
All places are based at the Golborne site, following the closure of the Maxilla building in 2015. There are a maximum of 70 places for children aged between three and five. These are a combination of 15 hour universal places and the 30 hour extended entitlement places which are offered during term time only between the school hours of 9.15am and 3.15pm. Nursery school admissions will usually take place in the September or January following a child’s third birthday. Full details of the Admissions policy are shown on our website. There will be no change to this policy, and it will still take into account the distance of the child’s home to Golborne or the former Maxilla site.
Why are we consulting you?
We value your thoughts highly and want to gather your views because you are an important part of our school community.
The Governing Body and the Local Authority cannot simply decide to make changes to schools without first seeking the views of parents, staff, and other stakeholders. There is also a legal process which must be followed before changes can be made, and it is important that the Governing Bodies, and the Local Authority hear your views before deciding whether and how to proceed.
We are organising opportunities for parents, carers, and other stakeholders to share views at meetings at school:
| Dates: |
| Thursday 29th September at 3-4:15 p.m |
| Wednesday 5th October at 9:30-10am |
Information will also be
- published on the school website;
- publicised at the school;
- shared via newsletters sent home with children over the next few weeks;
- available at the school office (available either by phone or in person).
What happens next?
The informal consultation period ends on Wednesday 9th November 2022 at 3:30 p.m. An Informal Consultation Response Form can be found at the end of this document for you to share your feedback on the proposal. Completed forms should be returned to the consultation boxes in the school’s reception area. The same form is also available on the school website and when submitted will be forwarded to the Governors meeting.
Following the consultation process, a steering group, including parent and staff Governors, will study your feedback, and feedback from other consultees, and use it to make a submission to the Local Authority on whether or not it recommends proceeding with the school amalgamation proposal.
The Local Authority will examine this feedback and if they decide to proceed will prepare its own formal statutory consultation process, possibly commencing in January 2023. There will be a period of at least four weeks when representations can be made and this will be the final opportunity to make any comments on the proposal. It is then anticipated that a final decision on whether to amalgamate the schools will be made in March 2023. If it is agreed then Maxilla Nursery will be dissolved and the new school Golborne & Maxilla will come in to being.
How can I get more information on the proposal?
If you have any additional queries or questions, these can be posted in the consultation boxes in the school’s reception area.
We understand that you may have concerns and queries and will be happy to answer your queries. We respectfully ask that you direct any questions or feedback as outlined in this document, and not by questioning school staff, who themselves are being consulted in a similar way.
Governors are committed to giving parents, children, and staff as much information as possible and will update you regularly. Please note that we may not be able to answer some questions until after a decision is made.
This document, and other information, is also available on the school website:
If the Local Authority decide to publish a public statutory notice, further details of this proposal will also be available in the Consultation sections of the council’s website. Feedback from the statutory consultation will also be published on the council’s website.
How do I respond?
You can either complete the Informal Consultation Response Form on the following page and return it to the consultation box in the school’s reception area, or you can complete it electronically and email it to:
consultation@golborne.rbkc.sch.uk
Your views and feedback is important to us and we would encourage you to come along to one of the meetings
| Dates: |
| Thursday 29th September at 3-4:15 p.m |
| Wednesday 5th October at 9:30-10am |
Please inform us either at reception or via the above email address that you wish to attend a meeting so we can prepare accordingly.
Responses not received on the below form will also be considered.
Thank you for taking the time to consider our proposal, we look forward to hearing your views
Rachael Stone
Chair of Governors
INFORMAL CONSULTATION RESPONSE FORM
Proposal to Amalgamate
Golborne Children Centre and Maxilla Nursery School
Our proposal is to bring Golborne and Maxilla into an amalgamation as one nursery school from March 2023. We welcome your views on this proposal. Please fill in this form and return it to the school office no later than 9th November 2022, 3.30pm. You can also download the form on-line and email it to the relevant address given above.
- Do you agree with the proposal to amalgamate our two schools to become one school?
Please circle/ delete as appropriate:
YES NO
- If you like the proposal, please say why you think it is a good idea?
- If you dislike the proposal, please tell us why you are concerned?
- Any other comments, issues, or questions? (please feel free to use the back of this form if you need more space)
| Parent: I have child/ren attending | |
| Staff: | |
| Governor: | |
| Other (please describe) | |
Please note: If you are completing this form jointly, or for more than one role, please tick each box that applies so that your views are included within each group you are part of.
Did you attend a consultation meeting?
Please circle/ delete as appropriate:
YES NO
Your Name ____________________________________________
Your address______________________________________________________________
NB you must provide your name and address however responses will be anonymised
Please return this form to the school by 9th November 2022. Feedback from question one will be summarised numerically. Comments will be typed-up and anonymised. This information will be made available to the public (via the school website), but all respondents’ comments and information will be anonymised.
