Issue - meetings

Surrey County Council (SCC) has consulted on a proposal to amalgamate Starhurst School in Dorking and Chart Wood School in Merstham from 1 September 2017 so that the south east area has one single school for pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs (SEMH).  The consultation period was from 8 February to 8 March 2016 and there were three public meetings held during this time. The Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Educational Achievement approved the proposal in June 2016.  Following the decision, information was received that challenged the approach to the process used at the time.  To remedy the situation, new statutory notices were issued on 8 March 2017, displayed at each school and published in the local newspaper. The notice stated the intent to amalgamate the two schools, via the closure of Starhurst and increasing the pupil numbers to 105 at Chart Wood, and additionally to locate the school on a single site from September 2019 and reduce the number of residential places to 24 when the transfer to the new site is complete. 

The Leader of the Council is asked to review the proposal and comments received during the consultation and statutory notice periods as described in the associated Annexes and, on that basis, decide whether to approve the closure of Starhurst School, as an integral element of the proposed amalgamation with Chart Wood School, effective from September 2017.

The Leader of the Council:

1. approved the closure of Starhurst School as part of the proposed amalgamation with Chartwood School (formerly St Nicholas) such that there will be one school for pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs (SEMH) in the south east area of the County from 1 September 2017;
2. noted that the amalgamation of Starhurst and Chartwood schools will take place in two phases with the children currently at Starhurst School being moved to the Chartwood School site in Merstham following which the one, amalgamated school will be relocated to a new, permanent site in Dorking upon completion of the new building which would then reduce the number of residential places at the school to 24.
3. noted the financial information related to the proposed amalgamation of Chartwood and Starhurst schools as outlined in the Part 2 report.