Catch up with developments as they happen.

County Council wants views on Wyre Forest schools’ reorganisation

Worcestershire County Council wants staff, parents, governors and communities in Wyre Forest to pass on their comments about the district’s schools review.

One of the largest area reviews in the country came to fruition at the start of the month when the Wyre Forest’s 45 schools were closed and 30 new ones opened the next day. The district went from the three-tier system with first, middle and high schools, to two-tier, with primary and secondary schools.

Over 20,000 pupils have been affected, and the building work needed to create 25 primary schools and rebuild five high schools is likely to cost £160 million. Now, the County Council wants feedback on the experiences of those involved.

A questionnaire has been placed on the Wyre Forest Review website, and parents and carers, governors, heads, staff and any other interested parties are encouraged to fill it in. Headteachers will also get a chance to have a direct say at a special meeting on October 2.

Colin Weeden, Head of Raising Achievement and Access to Learning, said: “We’re collating all the feedback we can, with the co-ordinating team writing reports on how well they thought it went, while we expect the heads to give us frank views of what went well, what did not, and what lessons we need to learn for future reviews of schools. We’ll be asking for children's views by getting in touch with a sample of schools' councils with the help of heads.

“Once this work is complete, we’ll be discussing the outcomes with the Wyre Forest Project Board in late November.”

The questionnaire is available at: www.worcestershire.gov.uk/researchweb/wfsr/wf.htm

The Bewdley School & Sixth Form Centre - Delayed Opening

Due to severe weather conditions over the summer, building works at the new school have not been completed as expected. The decision has been taken to delay the opening of the new school in the interests of health and safety to allow building works to be completed. A letter has been sent to all parents and a copy can be viewed here - wcc-chs-wfsr-bewdleyschool-160807.pdf  (10.34 KB)

Amalgamation of the new Lickhill Primary and Stourport Primary Schools

Lickhill and Stourport Primary schools are new schools due to open in September 2007 following the Wyre Forest Review. Worcestershire County Council, which is the Local Authority (LA) responsible for education, has undertaken a consultation on the amalgamation of these two schools to establish one new, 2 form entry (FE) school, in a new purpose-built primary building on the former Lickhill Middle School site. Details of this consultation and the latest position can be found here - wcc-sch-stourportmerger