Proposals that could lead to the closure of Daniel James Community School are being considered by Swansea Council’s Cabinet this week.
Following the recent consultation on the future of the school, Cabinet is being asked to agree the Authority can issue a Statutory Notice – the next formal step in a closure process.
Daniel James is in special measures and has among the poorest exam results in Wales. If the notice is agreed, it could close in the summer of 2012 with the transfer of pupils to other schools starting in the autumn of 2011.
Cllr Mike Day, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Education, said: “It is always a difficult decision to close a school and one the Authority does not consider lightly.
“However, we firmly believe pupils at the school deserve an education that meets their needs so they can fulfil their potential.
“There is a better prospect of that happening if they attend schools where overall standards of achievement are higher than anything Daniel James has been able to deliver in recent years.”
If Cabinet agrees, a Statutory Notice will be published. This would lead to a one-month period during which objections can be made in writing and, if an objection is made, it would be for a Minister at the Welsh Assembly Government to determine the outcome of the proposal.
If the proposal is approved pupils normally admitted to Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 would transfer to Pentrehafod, Morriston or Bishop Gore in autumn 2011. The Year 11 pupils would stay at the school to complete their exams in 2012. Pupils in the school’s STF would transfer to a new STF at Morriston Comprehensive School.
The report to Cabinet on Thursday takes account of an initial month-long consultation process and spells out why the Authority believes pupils would be better off attending other local schools.
Cllr Day said: “There have been significant concerns about standards of pupil attainment for some time. Over the last two years the Authority has worked very closely with the school to try to change things.
“In February this year an Estyn inspection highlighted significant concerns about standards, particularly in core subjects.
“It’s very clear that for some years the education of pupils has been adversely affected by the failure of the school to provide even the most basic requirements as highlighted by the Estyn report.
“It’s one of the reasons why the majority of the parents who live in the Daniel James catchment area already send their children to other schools.”
Cllr Day added: “By transferring the remaining pupils to other schools we expect them to have the opportunity to achieve better exam results and to secure greater prospects for the future. At the moment fewer than one in five pupils leave Daniel James with A* to C grades in English, Maths and Science.
“There are some good teachers at the school but it’s not fair to pupils now and in the future to allow the trend of poor achievement we have seen for some years to continue.
“The Authority will ensure at every step that pupils continue to feel safe, cared for and supported. Agencies such as the schools, the Council’s education department, child and family services and the police are working together to achieve this.”
