Howden School sixth form set to close due to dwindling numbers

Many will recall the poster above which highlighted the tremendous success of Howden School students at 16 last year - needless to say these great results equipped the students to continue their post 16 education at other teaching establishments in the area, with just 8 choosing to stay at the School.

The number of students in the sixth form at Howden Secondary School and Technology College has been low for many years with the majority of post 16 student choosing to continue their education elsewhere, in the current academic year there are just 8 students in Year 12 and 6 Students in Year 13, none of which are actually taught at Howden but instead all are taught at Goole High School by Goole High School teachers.

The post 16 students from Howden have a wide range of excellent teaching establishments in the area from which they choose to attend including: Goole College, Selby College, Bishop Burton College, East Riding College, Hull College, John Leggott College in Scunthorpe and York College. A small number also attend the sixth forms of other East Riding Schools.

With such small numbers, the sixth form at Howden School is financially subsidised by the main school budget. The projections based on existing numbers and trends are very low indeed meaning that the present or future arrangements are not financially viable for the school.

The current arrangements for post 16 students from Howden are not satisfactory and have been criticised by OfSTED when the school was inspected in June 2010.

As a member of the Governing body at Howden School I support the proposal for the School to become an 11 to 16 age range School from September of this year. This is very much a positive proposal and will allow the School to focus on the education of the year 7 to 11 students to improve even further on last years fantastic GCSE results, thereby ensuring they are best placed to take advantage of the excellent choices available to continue their post 16 education in the area. This will also satisfy the OfSTED recommendation.

There is a consultation period up to 27th April 2012 for people to comment, before the ERYC will decide if to formally close the sixth form at Howden.

The point of contact for comments is:

Victoria Smith
School Organisation Officer
East Riding of Yorkshire Council
County Hall
Beverley
East Riding of Yorkshire
HU17 9BA

victoria.l.smith@eastriding.gov.uk