Proposal to close Fountains Earth, Lofthouse CE Primary School

Fountains Earth is a small rural four to 11 CE VC Primary School and currently has no children on roll. The school has operated with 34 pupils or less for the last 15 years. Since the 2017 to 2018 academic year there has been a downward trend with pupil numbers reducing as follows:  

• October 2016 census: 19 pupils
• October 2017 census: 29 pupils   
• October 2018 census: 25 pupils
• October 2019 census: 21 pupils
• October 2020 census: 15 pupils
• October 2021 census: 12 pupils
• October 2022 census: 15 pupils
• May 2023 census: 10 pupils
• October 2023 census: 0 pupils

The school has a Published Admission Number (PAN) of six pupils per year group. The school has capacity to accommodate around 50 pupils if all spaces are in use, and therefore has the potential to contribute 50 places in the local area.

The number of children of primary school age living in the school catchment area has reduced from 27 children in 2017 (the earliest records held by the council) to 16 children in October 2022. This cohort figure is based on children living in the catchment area and attending a North Yorkshire area school at that time, be that local authority maintained or academy. The second column of figures in the table below shows how many of those ‘in-area’ children were attending the school at that time. This shows the number of ‘in-area’ children at the school halved from 20 to 10 between October 2017 and October 2022.

There is a leadership team across the three schools within the federation which is led by an Executive Headteacher. Subject leaders were appointed to work across the federation of three schools in April 2021. 

The most recent full graded Ofsted inspection for Fountains Earth was in April 2017. At that time there were 22 pupils on roll. Ofsted judged the school, to be ‘Good’. A short monitoring (section 8 inspection) took place in June 2022 when there were 11 pupils on roll. The report stated that the school continues to be a ‘Good’ school.

As numbers fall, it is increasingly difficult to provide the remaining pupils with access to the full range of experiences and the quality of education they require. At present, if any pupils were to apply to join Fountains Earth Primary there is no real prospect of them being able to get a full and balanced school experience in the absence of any peers. 

St Cuthbert’s was last inspected in October 2022 (section 5 inspection) and found to be ‘Good’. St Cuthbert’s was last inspected under SIAMS in November 2021 and found to be ‘Good’. Glasshouses Community School was last inspected in March 2022 and the outcome was the school continues to be a ‘Good’ school.

Over the last five years it has not been possible to recruit a permanent teacher. This has been attributed to the remote location and the challenges of recruiting a high level of experience and skill required to teach a wide range of ages and abilities, and with such small pupil numbers on roll in a single class structure from Reception pupils to Year 6. The Governors report that feedback from recruitment agencies is that many teachers with the necessary skills and experience do not choose to apply to work at Fountains Earth. 

Staff retention has also proved difficult with a high turnover of staff over the last five years resulting in use of agency staff which comes with increased staffing costs. Supply staff only need to give a day’s notice, and this leaves Fountains Earth, and the other schools in the Federation, vulnerable to disruption and it adversely affects the consistency and quality of education provision at the school.

Pupil numbers determine the funding for a school budget. The Department for Education have confirmed that in the exceptional situation where a school has no pupils, no funding would be provided to the local authority for that school through the Department for Education's Dedicated Schools Grant schools block funding; this is the grant funding used to fund school delegated budgets. Therefore, North Yorkshire Council will not receive a school funding allocation for Fountains Earth Primary in the 2024 to 2025 financial year as no pupils will be recorded on the Department for Education October 2023 school census.

In the event of the school remaining open, the local authority would need to determine whether the school should continue to be funded through the school funding formula. If this were agreed, the school would receive the formula lump sum funding (2024 to 2025 indicative value £134,400) and the school rates funding (£2,645). Any 2024 to 2025 formula funding allocation for Fountains Earth, Lofthouse CE Primary would need to be funded from the Dedicated Schools Grant funding allocations provided for other schools and academies within North Yorkshire. 

The Upper Nidderdale Primary Federation operate an amalgamated budget for the three schools within the Federation. The 2023 to 2024 Start Budget for the Upper Nidderdale Primary Federation indicated the following revenue budget position: 

There appears to be no reasonable long-term prospect of recovery for the Fountains Earth element of the budget given there will be no Department for Education funding allocation for the school for the 2024 to 2025 financial year.

In the event of Fountains Earth closing on 31 March 2024, the individual school budgets would need to be separated out from the current amalgamated federation budget. Any legacy costs associated with the operation of the school incurred in the 2023 to 2024 financial year would need to continue to be charged to the Fountains Earth school budget. Any final deficit on the school budget, after all costs have been accounted for, would need to be met from local authority funds.

There are currently no pupils on roll at Fountains Earth, Lofthouse CE so there will be no immediate requirement to assist parents with seeking alternative places in the event of closure. However, it is important to ensure that there are sufficient school places in the local area.

In October 2022 there were 16 pupils living in Fountain’s Earth discrete catchment area and attending a North Yorkshire school. Of the 15 pupils attending the school at the time of the October 2022 census, 10 pupils were from the Fountain’s Earth, Lofthouse catchment area and three were from the St Cuthbert’s area. Two pupils were attending from the catchment areas of Harrogate Town schools.

There are two other neighbouring primary schools within an eight mile radius of Fountains Earth Primary School. Across the area there is a general surplus of places. Further details of school capacities and pupil forecasts are set out in an accompanying page.

The nearest school to Fountains Earth CE Primary Endowed is St Cuthbert’s CE VC Primary School at Pateley Bridge where there are places available in all year groups. The next nearest school is Glasshouses Community Primary School where there are places available in all year groups apart from Year 3.

There is also capacity available at schools which are further away. Places are available at Summerbridge Primary School, Kirby Malzeard CE School and Grewelthorpe CE Primary although not in all year groups. Masham CE School has places available in all year groups. These schools were all judged ‘Good’ in their last Ofsted inspection.