Future housing development will be focused in the east of the borough and to meet an increasing demand for school places, the local authority has identified nine potential sites in the Poplar and Isle of Dogs catchment areas to deliver new primary schools.
There is a facility for the local authority or governing body of a maintained school to propose the transfer of an existing school into a new site, rather than commission a new provider.
This would mean an existing school could retain its staff and other key resources to provide continuity of existing high quality provision, serving a new community in Tower Hamlets. This would also reduce the number of surplus places in the schools existing community, and help to strengthen the rolls at other schools.
The earliest a school could relocate into a new site would be the 2022/23 school year, based on the availability of new school sites. Relocations would also involve a transitional period over a number of years so that pupils would not be forced to move to a new location at critical stages in their education.
Staff
For staff, this would mean the need to eventually relocate to a different area of the borough if they intended to stay at the school, although the transition over to the new school site will likely be phased over a number of years. Staff would benefit from working in a newly built school and would have greater job security through working in a school with increased sustainability. Alternatively, the local authority will work closely with neighbouring schools to maximise the opportunities for staff to transfer to another school that is near the existing site.
Governors
For governors, the relocated school will provide opportunity for the school’s existing governance structure to continue, however consideration will need to be given to a governance structure which is representative of the new community that the school will serve. There may also be a need to increase the size of the governing body in accordance with the size of the school in its new location. The local authority will work closely with governing bodies of schools affected to help them decide on the process and the best governance structures moving forward.
Parents and pupils
For parents and pupils, the relocation of a school will be timed in such a way that it does not significantly disrupt the education of existing pupils as they move between the key stages. There would also the opportunity for existing pupils to continue at the school in its new location with the local authority providing the necessary travel assistance in line with its statutory obligations.
Wider community
For the school’s existing community, it would mean the effective closure of the school in that area, however this would help to strengthen the rolls at other schools and in turn help to improve the quality of education. The school’s new community within the borough will benefit from the delivery of much-needed, high-quality school places in their local area.