News / Education
Decision day on The Grange school
The future of the Grange school in Warmley will be decided later, with South Gloucestershire councillors being told the ‘only viable option is closure’ of the school.
The Grange was put into special measures in spring 2013, after Ofsted said it was failing to give students an adequate education, but it has since improved.
However, there are only 300 pupils left at the school – mainly in year 11, and council officers say around £12m is needed to refurbish the building.
Overwhelming support
Members of the Children and Young People’s Committee are being asked to agree with education officers that the school should be closed.
However, during a public consultation, the majority of people who took part said they did not want the school to close. Of the 70 questionnaires received 75% “strongly disagree” with the proposal to close the school.
Despite this, the report maintains that closing the school to new entrants in 2015 and ceasing to maintain the school from August 2017, is the only viable option.
‘Lost opportunity’
If the closure goes ahead a new £3m studio school, funded from the government’s Education Funding Agency, is due to open on the Grange site next September.
If councillors do not agree to close the school, the development of the new Studio School will not go ahead as the bid for funding depended on the closure of The Grange.
Officers will tell councillors that “this would mean the opportunity to open the first studio school in the authority’s area would be lost”.
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