Children’s Scrutiny Committee received an update on the sufficiency of secondary school places in the borough.
Knowsley has six secondary schools – five are academies and one is controlled by the archdiocese. The schools are located in Kirkby – Kirkby High School and All Saints Catholic High school; Halewood – Halewood Academy; and Central Secondary – Lord Derby Academy, St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School and The Prescot School.
After a decline in secondary pupils between the years of 2010 to 2017, the number of pupils on roll has consistently increased each year since 2018, with the exception of 2022.
Births are the major determinant of pupil numbers and projections show that births are estimated to remain stable over the next few years.
Knowsley has, and continues, to have a period of significant housing growth, which is expected to continue for the next decade. New demands for school places generated from housing developments are expected to absorb much of the existing surplus school places.
A new seven-year School Sufficiency Strategy is currently being developed, setting out specific actions to ensure that all children within the borough who require a school place will be able to access one near where they reside. Alongside the strategy, a School Sufficiency Governance Group will be established, including representatives from the council, schools, academy trusts, diocesan bodies and the Department for Education.
Latest projections for the next six academic years indicate that the 2029/2030 academic year will be the peak for Year 7 places in Kirkby with a projected 469 pupils requiring a Year 7 place (currently 410 places across both schools).
Recently, a planning application for 800 new homes in Kirkby town centre was approved (on the land south of Cherryfield Drive). The developer has agreed to pay contributions towards additional secondary school places worth £4.4m. Given the rising demand for school places in Kirkby, a working group including the headteachers from both secondary schools, the Archdiocese, the Rowan Learning Trust, and Council representatives has been established to enable a collaborative approach to be taken between the Council and both schools involved.
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill 2024-25 introduces provisions that directly impact sufficiency of school places within the borough. The bill, if passed, gives greater powers to local authorities to direct both maintained schools and academies to admit a child, in the rare circumstances that admissions cannot be secured for a child through the usual processes.
Cllr Joan Lilly, Chair of the Children’s Scrutiny Committee, said “It was great to receive an update on secondary school sufficiency in the borough and the work being completed to ensure we are planning for future intakes, particularly aligned to new housing developments in progress or planned across the borough.”