PAN Consultation
Pupil Admission Numbers (PAN) Consultation
In recent years that has been a very sharp fall in the number of reception age pupils throughout Bristol, and furthermore numbers are projected to continue to fall the foreseeable future. A very large majority of school funding is based on the number of pupils on roll, and schools must ensure that we are able to operate sustainably whilst continuing to deliver the high-quality curriculum and teaching that all of our pupils deserve. For the last two academic years we have run three reception classes at significantly less than capacity, placing significant financial pressure on the school.
Due to the financial challenge of continuing to operate at under-capacity we have reluctantly concluded that we are unable to sustain our current Pupil Admission Numbers (PAN) of 90 pupils. We have therefore decided to consult our stakeholders, including parents and staff, on reducing our PAN of 90 pupils or 3 classes to a PAN of 60 pupils or 2 classes. This would, over a number of years beginning in September 2023, transition Cotham Gardens back to a 2-form entry school as we were prior to the large, but temporary, increase in reception age pupils seen around 2015 but which has now worked its ways through the school.
For the avoidance of doubt, we have no plans to close our Elmgrove site. We are also aware of a number of other local schools who are consulting on reducing their PAN in response to the very large city-wide fall in reception age pupil numbers.
Responses to our consultation can be submitted using the following online form:
https://forms.office.com/r/MRzH075fVz
We also intend, subject to Covid-19 restrictions, to arrange a public meeting, held on academy premises, at which questions can be asked, and views and comments given in person. Details of the date of this meeting will be published as soon as possible.
Views, comments or questions can also be emailed to the following address:
consultation@cothamgardens.co.uk
This consultation will run for 6 weeks from Friday 17th December 2021 to Friday 28th January 2022. We intend to publish the outcome of this consultation prior to the deadline of 28th February 2022.