Hart School Admission Consultation

Published: 22 October 2019

Firstly, the current PAN of 360 is a legacy number which combines both the admission numbers of the predecessor schools, Fair Oak Academy and Hagley Park Academy. Now that we are on one site, it makes complete sense to reduce the number to be in line with the capacity of 1238 students as determined by the Regional Schools Commissioner Headteachers’ Board, i.e. 220 students per year group (Years 7-11) and 138 students in the Sixth Form.

The school is making rapid improvements; students’ GCSE and A level results rose dramatically this year, as did students’ progress; leadership and teaching are stronger, whilst students’ attitude to their learning is impressive. The Academy Council (formerly the Governing Body) want to make sure that this journey of improvement continues and the young people of Rugeley and surrounding areas access an excellent education at The Hart School. The school believe that a PAN of 220 will allow them to do so. This number is not only achievable and realistic, it puts us in line with other local high schools.

The main benefits are:-

• we can continue to provide high quality educational provision for our students;
• the resources within the school are appropriate and accessible for all students;
• the number of 220 per year group supports a more personalised education, with our resources, students can benefit from one-to-one support in the classroom;
• we retain a sense of ‘community’ in the school;
• average class sizes do not increase;
• we are able to offer options for our students with lower numbers;
• we are able to offer a full range of A level courses, a number of which have lower student numbers, making learning more personalised;

As importantly, we still have room to grow as a school. We are continuing to improve the condition of the school with an extensive refurbishment programme, whilst providing our students with even better facilities. By the end of this term, we are planning to install a new indoor sports ‘dome’ across two tennis courts next to the gym. This will provide our students with better indoor PE facilities and I am sure this will be welcomed by all. These are exciting times for the school. Our reputation continues to grow and students, parents, carers and staff recognise the continued improvements that are being made across the school.

A manageable and sensible reduction in incoming numbers from 360 to 220 will allow us to continue with such improvements. The consultation will take place for a minimum of 6 term-time weeks between Monday 21st October 2019 and Friday 6th December 2019.

Further details of the proposal and how to respond to the consultation can be found within the attached letter.