Future of secondary education in Birkenhead and Bromborough to be debated

Jun 25 2008 by Lorna Hughes, Birkenhead News

COUNCILLORS will meet this week to start debating the future of secondary education in Birkenhead and Bebington.

Wirral Council is required by the government and the Audit Commission to monitor “surplus” school places.

In Wirral, this figure must be kept below 10pc for the whole of the borough and 25pc for any individual school.

The overall surplus for secondary schools is currently 11pc and this figure is predicted to rise to 21pc by 2013.

Cabinet members will hear tomorrow (Thursday) how the next stage is to identify “options for consultation” to bring this figure down - which could see some schools closed.

But the council says the situation is complicated by the potential establishment of an Academy at Birkenhead High School for Girls and the introduction of the National Challenge by Department for Children, Schools and Families.

The “challenge” is that no school should have less than 30pc of its pupils achieving 5 A*-C grades at GCSE, including English and mathematics, by 2011.

Cllr Phil Davies, cabinet member for children’s services and lifelong learning, said: “If Birkenhead High School is successful in its bid to become an Academy, this is likely to impact on both secondary and primary schools in the area.

“On this basis it seems prudent to await the outcome of the feasibility stage of the Academy process and further details on the National Challenge before making any recommendations for options to proceed to consultation in the Phase 1 area.”

The Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST) which oversees the running of Birkenhead High School sent letters to parents last year saying talks with government education officials over the switch in status were in the early stages.

If the plans are approved, the school would abandon more than a century of academic selection.

There are five 11-18 secondary schools in Bebington and a report to cabinet members by director of children’s services Howard Cooper notes that “Bebington High School is already demonstrating high levels of surplus places, and is projected to exceed 25pc and more than 30 surplus places in the next few years.”

Birkenhead has two 11-18 single sex selective Catholic grammar schools and five 11 to 16 schools.

The report states that two schools - Park High and Rock Ferry High - are already above the 25pc and 30 surplus places level.

One suggestion is that an independent assessor could be appointed to work with the council to examine the implications of the proposed Birkenhead High Academy.