Phase two of school review (From Gazette Series)

Phase two of school review

SECONDARY schools across the district could know by December whether changes are to be made to the way education is provided in the future.

The second phase of work being carried out by members of the Stroud District Panel of the Gloucestershire Area School Review will start next month wit the aim of submitting final proposals by the end of the year.

When the panel first met in June it was decided to look at secondary education in the west of the district as a priority, covering Rednock, Katharine Lady Berkeley and Vale of Berkeley schools.

The review of education was re-started by Gloucestershire County Council's new Conservative administration after they decided to scrap their predecessor's review.

During the next phase, the panel will look at whether students appear to have access to good quality school provision, including quality of accommodation and facilities, and whether such provision promotes wider community learning and meets wider community needs, including pre-school and childcare services, arts and sports.

Through this panel members will identify a range of issues and suggestions, which they will then want to share more widely.

Once the issues have been identified, the panel will consult key stake holders, including staff, governors, parents and young people, as well as local elected representatives and other key community groups, with the aim of giving people the opportunity to express their views before final proposals are considered by the panels.

A spokeswoman for the county council said: "Final proposals are likely to be made in late November or early December with panels reporting back through lead members to the county council's cabinet.

"A wide range of options are open to them - from changes to local admission numbers and capacities, to promotion of new community facilities in surplus capacity and from greater local collaboration, to structural changes such as federation or amalgamation."

Although meetings of the panel have so far been held in public it is likely that during the second phase of the review panels will be held in closed sessions, as they will be examining data, which could identify individual employees or individual pupils.