Background
The current Published Admission Number (PAN) at Lidget Green Primary School is 90. This means that the number of children admitted to the school in reception each year is a maximum of 90.
When planning primary school places in Bradford, the District is split into 26 primary school planning areas. Lidget Green Primary School sits in the South West 4 planning area.
The population growth in Bradford over the last decade increased pressure on primary school places, resulting in a large-scale expansion programme to meet the growth in demand. Due to a significant increase in demand in the South West 4 planning area, Lidget
Green Primary School increased PAN in reception from 75 to 90 in September 2016. This has moved up through the school each year and in the 2020/21 academic year the PAN increase has reached Year 4. The net capacity for the building is 630, made up of 90 places
in each year from reception to year 6.
Whilst there are still small areas of population growth, overall across the Bradford District, there is a decrease in the number of younger children registered with the NHS. This has led to a high level of surplus places in some of the primary school planning
areas including South West 4, where Lidget Green Primary School is situated.
Nationally, the number of live births has been falling over the last few years, with the total number of live births in 2019 being the fewest since 2004. In the Bradford District, there were 7270 live births in the 2019, which is considerably lower than
recent years with the exception of 2018 when there were 7244; therefore, the Council does not anticipate that the numbers of children requiring school places in the South West 4 planning area will increase significantly in the near future.
There have been two recent PAN reductions in the South West 4 planning area. Rainbow Primary School Academy reduced its PAN from 75 to 60 from September 2019 and following consultation in the autumn term 2018, Princeville Primary School reduced its PAN from
90 to 60 from September 2020. These reductions took the total PAN for the South West 4 planning area to 730 places for reception children in 2020. Current forecasts indicate that the number of reception places required for reception for the next four intake
years are:
2021/22: 668
2022/23: 615
2023/24: 644
2024/25: 644
Forecasts indicate that there are sufficient places to meet the demand from known housing developments in the South West 4 planning area. A calculation has been made for the possible additional children that could come to live in the approved housing development
on the former Otto House site and as required by the Department for Education (DfE) these additional children are included in forecasts shown above.
The School Admissions Code requires that all admission authorities consult where they propose to reduce a PAN. Bradford Council, as the Admission Authority, is therefore seeking representations on the proposed change to the PAN for Lidget Green Primary School
in the South West 4 planning area.
In accordance with the School Admissions Code (2014), the Council is consulting with key stakeholders, including;
- Lidget Green Primary School – Head/Governing Body/ Staff
- Parents/carers of current pupils and prospective parents of pupils
- All other Admission Authorities within the District
- Neighbouring Local Authorities
- Councillors and MPs
- Trade Unions
- Anyone else who has an interest in the proposed changes
A copy has been sent to the Schools Adjudicator.
The school will be asked to publish the proposal on their website.
This consultation will run for six weeks from 1st October 2020 to 20 November 2020, after which time any representations received will be considered and a report taken to the Council’s Executive Committee for a decision to be made on the PAN for
Lidget Green Primary School.
Specific Proposal
Bradford Council proposes to reduce the PAN at Lidget Green Primary School from 90 to 60 from 1 September 2022.
This means that the maximum number of pupils intended to be admitted in Reception in 2022, and all subsequent Reception cohorts, will be 60. For children who already have a place at the school in other year groups there will be no change.
Factors that have been considered by the Council when deciding to consult on this proposal include:
- A large portion of funding received by schools is directly related to the number of pupils attending the school. Too many vacancies mean that schools will not receive the maximum possible revenue. Therefore the Council is proposing to reduce the number
of available places to enable the school to operate more efficiently and cost effectively.
- The school is located in South West 4 planning area where there continues to be a falling demand for primary school places, resulting in a significant surplus across the area. As a result, reception has not filled since the PAN increase took place in 2016.
- The total number of pupils from reception to Year 6 recorded by the school on the January 2020 census was 547 and is well below the current capacity of 630.
- Due to the lower numbers of younger children registered with the NHS who will require a school place in the coming years, the Council expects that there will be sufficient school places available for local children if the PAN is reduced. If agreed, the
overall PAN for the South West 4 planning area will be 700 from 2022.
Lidget Green Primary School Governors and Bradford Council believe that reducing the PAN will assist the school to provide stability in their long-term planning and allow them to deliver high quality educational outcomes for the pupils currently on roll.
The reduction in PAN will ensure that an appropriate number of places are provided for future pupils, in line with forecasts.
Any representations should be made on the Bradford Council consultation website under current consultations. Alternatively, if you would prefer a hardcopy
of the response form, please email PupilPlacePlanning@bradford.gov.uk quoting Lidget Green Primary School: PAN reduction consultation
to request a copy.