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Answer:
The circumstances in which students can be given special consideration for exams are limited. Ultimately it is for the examination board to decide whether a dispensation can be given in each individual case.  The LA is therefore reviewing whether the situation at Raine’s falls within the guidelines agreed by all of the exam boards. Students and their families will be notified as soon as possible.
Answer:

The LA has said that is has been supporting Raine’s with its efforts to increase its pupil intake over a number of years. This work has included;

  • developing scholarship programmes in Modern Foreign Languages and Sports Studies
  • rewriting the school’s admissions policy to encourage applications from children from all world faiths
  • enabling the school to adopt the LA’s arrangements for pupil banding to support its efforts to achieve a balanced ability intake 
  • appointing the Raine’s headteacher to the Tower Hamlets School Admissions Forum and
  • reserving places at Raine’s for pupils who were unsuccessful in securing places at any of the preferred schools at secondary transfer. 

The Raine’s school leaders during this period would have had the responsibility to consider how best to publicise and promote the school, alongside the support provided by the LA.

Answer:
The phrase ‘other communities’ is not used in the consultation document. The consultation describes the expansion of Oaklands as being beneficial as it provides all members of the community equal opportunity to access a high quality local school provision. Oaklands GCSE results have consistently been amongst the best in the borough.
Answer:
£4m is the figure that has been allocated to be spent on renovating the Raine’s Lower Site. This money is limited to ‘capital expenditure’ and can therefore only be used for renovating the school building and its landscape.
Answer:

Money was invested in all secondary schools in the borough to ensure that each school could provide great facilities for pupils. Raine’s Foundation School envisaged that modern facilities would help with its recruitment of pupils. This has not proven to be the case.

Should Raine’s School close the building at Approach Road will cease to operate as a secondary school. However, there will still be the opportunity for the building to be put to use for other education or community provision. This will be a matter for consideration by the Raine’s Foundation Charitable Trust, the owner of the Approach Road site.

The LA and Diocese plan to bring the Raine’s building at Old Bethnal Green Road back into use as a 6th Form provision for Oakland’s School. This will benefit children at Oaklands and also those Raine’s students who will be moving to Oaklands.

Answer:

The planned use of the lower school site is separate to the proposal to close Raine’s. The LA would want to make the site a sixth form centre for Oaklands School, regardless of whether or not Raine’s School closes.

The building has been empty for some considerable time and the opportunity provided by Oaklands is the most viable option for the building to be put to good use at this time.

Answer:

On an individual level the school has highly experienced staff team who are well aware of the sensitivities around the proposals and the effect that might have on students. Where staff feel students are finding it difficult to cope or are exhibiting behaviours that might stem from change anxiety, they are on hand to intervene on an individual level- that might involve speaking to students, withdrawing them from certain activities, communicating with parents.

On a group or cohort level, the school has prioritised the needs of different year groups. The school has held surgery appointments with all families and looked to support them to transitioning to schools of their preference. The school is planning different sets of activities for different groups of students depending on need. For example, many of the families with students in Year 9 have decided that a school move now would be preferable to waiting till next year.

Therefore, as many of the year group are leaving in July, a two week transition project called ‘New Horizons’ has been organised to positively mark their end of time at Raine’s and help them move on positively to their next school.

Answer:

The current proposal is to close Raine’s and expand Oaklands. If it does not go ahead the LA would still need to find a way to solve the problem regarding the school’s current financial position.

Currently there appears to be no reasonable prospect of recovery for this school. A substantial increase in pupil numbers at this stage is unlikely to secure Raine’s future as it would still not generate the level of income required to address the school’s funding shortfall, repay its increasing licensed deficit and thereby enable it to reach a financially sustainable position. If Oaklands is not expanded the LA would have to consider how the overall need for school places in the borough is to be met.

Answer:

The LA is aware of the importance of keeping the name of Henry Raine alive in the borough. A commitment was made to the chair of the Foundation Trust in correspondence on the 7 May 2019 to discuss further  ways in which the legacy and name of Raine’s is preserved in the borough of Tower Hamlets. 

Answer:

It is the responsibility of the governing body to keep parents and carers up to date with developments in the school. The school had kept parents informed of key developments including when the school received the ‘Requires Improvement’ judgement from Ofsted in 2017 and when an IEB had been appointed. When the IEB took over governance of Raine's in late October 2018, the school was in urgent need of improvement, having suffered from a legacy of weak leadership and governance, poor performance, falling rolls and mounting debt. Two meetings were organised to give parents an opportunity to meet with IEB members and ask questions.

Subsequently, the LA carried out a feasibility study and following the recommendations from this study it was agreed to move forward with the consultation to close Raine’s. Parents were involved at the earliest opportunity.
A letter was sent to parents on 1 May 2019 and a parents meeting was subsequently held, followed by surgeries which are taking place every week so that parents can discuss their own circumstances with representatives from the LA.

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