The Options
In developing options we have taken account of the key national BSF and Leicestershire policies aimed at:
- Continuing to improve standards significantly;
- Establishing through schools (to remove the Key Stage 3 to Key Stage 4 transition);
- Removing surplus places;
- Developing area special schools;
- Supporting sustainable communities.
- Meeting the Every Child Matters priorities remains at the heart of our work.
Consideration has also been given to:
- The size of schools, with and without sixth forms;
- Their geographic location;
- The nature of existing buildings;
- Site suitability;
- Opportunities to make better use of school sites, such as locating a special school alongside a secondary school.
Option A
| What would it povide? | What would this mean? |
|---|---|
| A new Post-16 Centre of up to 800 places on the Limehurst site. | This would be based on a large amount of new build plus some remodelling of the existing school and would include community facilities. |
| A new 11-16 secondary school of 1200 places to be developed on the Burleigh/Garendon site | This would be based on extensive remodelling and refurbishment of existing Burleigh buildings together with some new build. This would involve the demolition of the existing Garendon buildings. |
| The development of Woodbrook Vale into an 11-16 school of 1050 places. | This would involve remodelling and refurbishment of the existing buildings plus some new build. |
These three proposals would involve the closure of Burleigh, Garendon and Limehurst schools. It would be necessary to hold an external competition to decide which organisation would be responsible for the new secondary school on the Burleigh/Garendon site. The provision of residential facilities for students at Field House in Loughborough would be phased out.
| What would it povide? | What would this mean? |
|---|---|
| The development of Humphrey Perkins into an 11-16 school of 900 places | This would involve some remodelling of existing buildings together with some new build. |
| A new 11-16 Rawlins College of 900 places plus the Stride Special Needs Unit | It would be located on the playing fields to the rear of the school. |
| The building of a 4-19 Area Special School of 120 places on the Burleigh/Garendon site to enable Ashmount Special School to be re-located. | On completion of this development, the existing Ashmount School building would be vacated. |
| The remodelling, refurbishment and some new build at De Lisle as an 11-19 school | This would accommodate current numbers of students and improve learning environments. |
| A new 14-19 University Technical College of 800 places | This would be on a site close to the University. |
Benefits
- Removes around 700 existing surplus places
- Develops four locally based medium sized secondary schools and supports the maximum community benefit
- Provides two brand new schools and four refurbished schools
- Every school would have access to adjacent appropriately sized playing fields
- A post-16 centre has the potential to provide a wider variety of curriculum opportunities than a single sixth form
- Enables the closure of a school in Special Measures (Burleigh)
- Co-locating the area special school on the Burleigh/Garendon site provides the maximum opportunities for integrating learning
- The new Post-16 centre at Limehurst supports the regeneration that is planned to take place in this area of Loughborough, and continues to offer a focal point for the community
- Developing a UTC enables the optimum link to FE and HE provision.
Disadvantages
- The provision of a single Post-16 centre will lead to increased travel
- This option requires the closure of one outstanding (Limehurst) and one very good school (Garendon) as judged by Ofsted and the Local Authority
- No school has Key Stage 5 (16-19) provision and the benefits of direct links to other key stages would therefore be lost
Option B
| What would it povide? | What would this mean? |
|---|---|
| A new secondary school of 1200 11-16 places plus 449 sixth form places to be developed on the Burleigh/Garendon site. | This would be based on extensive remodelling and refurbishment of existing Burleigh buildings together with some new build. This would involve the demolition of the existing Garendon buildings. |
| The development of Woodbrook Vale into an 11-16 school of 1050 places | This would involve remodelling and refurbishment of existing buildings plus some new build. |
These two proposals would involve the closure of Burleigh, Garendon and Limehurst schools. It would be necessary to hold an external competition to decide which organisation would be responsible for the new secondary school on the Burleigh/Garendon site. The provision of residential facilities for students at Field House in Loughborough would be phased out.
| What would it povide? | What would this mean? |
|---|---|
| The development of Humphrey Perkins into an 11-16 school of 900 places. | This would involve some remodelling of existing buildings together with some new build. |
| A new Rawlins College of 900 11-16 places plus 335 sixth form places and the Stride Special Needs Unit | This would be located on the playing fields to the rear of the school. |
| The building of a 4-19 Area Special School of 120 places on the Burleigh/Garendon site to enable Ashmount Special School to be re-located | On completion of this development, the existing Ashmount School building would be vacated. |
| The remodelling, refurbishment and some new build at De Lisle as an 11-19 school | This would accommodate current numbers of students and improve learning environments. |
| A new 14-19 University Technical College of 800 places | This would be on a site close to the University |
Benefits
- Removes around 700 existing surplus places
- Developing two locally based medium sized secondary schools and two larger schools with sixth forms supports maximum community benefit
- Provides two brand new schools and four refurbished schools
- Every school would have access to adjacent appropriately sized playing fields
- Enables the closure of a school in Special Measures (Burleigh)
- Co-locating the area special school on the Burleigh/Garendon site provides maximum opportunities for integrating learning
- Developing a UTC enables the optimum link to FE and HE provision.
- Retains local school-based sixth forms promoting strong links with the 11-16 part of the school
Disadvantages
- This option requires the closure of one outstanding (Limehurst) and one good school (Garendon) as judged by Ofsted and the Local Authority
- The option does not offer a state of the art Post-16 Centre, a key factor in achieving transformation
- Parents may wish to choose a school with a sixth form rather than one without which may disadvantage the smaller schools
- The free standing nature of community facilities on the Limehurst site may be less effective without the support of other on-site provision, such as a school
Other options
There may be other options which you believe could achieve the required transformation in learning in Loughborough, Quorn and Barrow. If you would like to propose another option for consideration please tick the ‘Other option’ box on the Response Form and provide brief details of your proposal.
Page Last Updated: 25 January 2010
