School will need to consult on sixth form closure

Felixstowe School will have to consult with parents after saying it will pause its intake of sixth form students from September.

Labour MP for Suffolk Coastal Jenny Riddell-Carpenter met with education minister Georgia Gould to discuss the issue after parents contacted her over their concerns about lack of post-16 provision in the town.

The MP said the government said the school had not approached this in "the right way " and "should have announced a full consultation on their plans to close the sixth form".

Unity Schools Partnership, which runs the school, said it made the decision last year prior to an update in guidance and children would have "the maximum time" to review their choices.

The school made the announcement on the 19 January and said current Year 12 and 13 students would be unaffected.

Anne Belton, who has a child in Year 11 at the school who had hoped to attend sixth form, said: "Somebody needs to be accountable for it happening so quickly right ahead of somebody's GCSEs that could affect the rest of their life."

Riddell-Carpenter said "we need to make sure the voices of students and their parents are heard".

"The school now has to run a consultation with the families, with the students... not just those that wanted to be part of that sixth form in September but the wider school community," she said.

"The school then has to put forward what we call a business plan to the department. The department makes the final decision."

A spokesperson for Unity Schools Partnership said its board "made the decision to pause entry into Year 12 last year, prior to the DfE's [Department for Education] guidance being updated".

It added that the timing was "in the best interests of the children in Year 11 who deserved the maximum time and support possible to secure a Year 12 place elsewhere. We followed the correct process at the time".

"The school is ensuring that the very small number of pupils who had indicated they would like to join the sixth form next September are being successfully helped and supported to achieve offers from suitable alternative providers," they said.

"Unity Schools Partnership will, of course, follow proper process as it stands at each stage of our decision making.

"As planned, we will be fully consulting with the community and wider stakeholders in the summer term as we consider what is best for the school and its pupils for the future of the sixth form."

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