James joined parents and the local community to discuss DNEAT's plans to merger Brancaster Primary School with Docking Primary Academy
At the end of last week, I attended a packed public meeting at #Brancaster Primary School for parents and the local community including Brancaster Parish Council about the proposal by the Diocese of Norwich Education and Academies Trust to merge Brancaster Church of England Primary Academy with Docking Church of England Primary Academy from 1 January 2025 (by ceasing to maintain the Brancaster site).
There is strong opposition to closure of the school which is at the heart of the community. As was made clear at the meeting, this announcement has been sprung on people causing distress and DNEAT needs to listen to parents and the local community and rethink its plans.
As I said at the meeting:
• the consultation period of 3 weeks is far too short
• any idea of closing the school on 1 January must dropped as it would be incredibly disruptive to children’s learning and is already causing anxiety. If the Trust proceeds, any proposal must be amended for the school to stay open until the end of the academic year as a minimum.
• there needs to be more assessment of likely pupil numbers given the new community housing coming to Brancaster Staithe and developments in Docking.
I strongly encourage people to respond formally to the consultation plans. If DNEAT decides to proceed with the proposal a business case will be submitted to the Department for Education who will decide whether to approve the plan.
Emailing: [email protected] (please quote Brancaster as the subject) or write to: Brancaster Church of England Primary Academy Consultation, DNEAT, Orchard House, Hall Lane, East Tuddenham near Mattishall, Norfolk, NR20 3LR.
All responses must be submitted by midnight Sunday 3 November 2024
