Seaton Valley school amalgamation proposals rejected

12 Jan 2022 ARCHIVED (over 3 months old) - view latest news

A proposal to amalgamate three Seaton Valley schools has been rejected by Cabinet following officer recommendation.

A 6-week consultation took place at the end of 2021 which sought the views of stakeholders including staff, pupils and local residents which found there was an overwhelming 83% of consultees that did not support the proposals put before them.  While consultation is not a referendum, there did not appear to be a solid body of support for the proposal, particularly across schools in the whole Seaton Valley Partnership.

Councillor Guy Renner-Thompson, Cabinet Member with responsibility for children’s services, said: “Cabinet supports the officer recommendation not to move forward with the publication of a statutory proposal to amalgamate Seaton Sluice Middle School and Whytrig Middle School based on the evidence put before us today.

“As with any consultation process, we must balance the rationale for a proposal against all of those who have given feedback and make a decision based on what is put before us. In this case, this proposal was not supported within the community and at a wider level and we have heard the arguments that have been made.”

Whilst Seaton Sluice Middle School will not amalgamate with Whytrig Middle School and Astley High School, officers have noted in the report that the project to provide new buildings for Astley High School and Whytrig Middle School on the current shared site or another site will continue to proceed as originally planned. 

The full report can be viewed here.