County Hall

Hertford, SG13 8DF

Tel: 01992 555811

Fax: 01992 555739

My ref:
Your ref:
Date: 15 September 2009

Dear Stakeholder

Consultation on the proposal to increase the premises at Wheatcroft

Primary School, Hertford

I am writing to let you know of a proposal to enlarge the premises at

Wheatcroft Primary School, Stanstead Road, Hertford, SG13 7HQ.

Why is it proposed to enlarge the premises?

There has been an increase in the number of children aged between 0-5
years in Hertford. The County Council has looked carefully at the supply of
school places for reception age children, and has concluded that it will be
necessary to provide more places in the town. Without these, there will not be
enough school places from September 2011 onwards for all the reception age
children in Hertford to start school.

As Wheatcroft Primary School is in the area of pupil growth, it is proposed to

increase the size of this school to take 60 children into reception from
September 2011. The number of reception places available at the school (the
Published Admissions Number – PAN) will be increased from 45 to 60 for
September 2011. This will be consulted upon as part of the County Council’s
normal annual admissions arrangements.

The school currently does not have enough classrooms to accommodate

these extra children and so it is proposed to enlarge the buildings to provide
additional classrooms and associated accommodation for the school. In order
to provide the school with sufficient playing field space, it is proposed as part
of this enlargement that the former Pines School playing field be allocated for
the school’s use and to come under their management.

The County Council is consulting you on this enlargement and would like to
hear your views.
How can you let us know your views?

You have twelve weeks from the date of this letter to let us know your views
on this proposal. You can do this by one of the following methods:
• completing the online form on our website at:
www.hertsdirect.org/csfconsultations
• completing and returning the attached form (freepost)
• emailing us at education.planning@hertscc.gov.uk

Your comments must be received by 8 December 2009.

How will the decision be taken?

Once the consultation period ends, a report will be made to the County
Council’s Education Panel. This Panel is made up of key elected members
from the three main political parties, and will consider the feedback from the
consultation. The Panel will make a recommendation to Cabinet, which is the
County Council’s decision-making body. If Cabinet decides to proceed with
the proposal, the County Council will publish a statutory notice of its intention.

In the four weeks following the publication of the notice, anybody is entitled to
comment or object. If there are any objections to the statutory notice, the
decision as to whether or not to proceed with the proposal would be made by
Cabinet in the light of the objections received. If there are no objections, the
director of Children, Schools & Families would be able to proceed with the
proposal.

The following timetable outlines the decision-making process. Please note

that meetings marked with * will be open to the public.

Process Date
Public consultation 15 September – 8 December
Education Panel* 13 January 2010
Cabinet* 18 January 2010
Statutory notice 22 January – 19 February
Decision if no objections to statutory March 2010
notice (delegated to Director of CSF)
Decision if objections to the statutory 22 March 2010
notice (Cabinet*)

Yours sincerely,

Justin Donovan
Chief Education Officer
WE WANT YOUR VIEWS

RESPONSE FORM

Proposal to expand the premises at Wheatcroft Primary School

from September 2011

Please return this form (freepost) by 8 December 2009 to:

Enlargement of premises at Wheatcroft Primary School
CSF School Planning
Freepost HJ71
Hertfordshire County Council
County Hall
Hertford SG13 8YD

1. Name and address

Name:
Address:
Postcode:

2. About You (please tick the most relevant box only)

SECTION A
I am:
□ Parent/carer
□ Governor
□ Member of staff
□ Pupil
□ Other e.g. resident or grandparent (please state below)
_____________________________

SECTION B
I am mainly connected with:
□ Wheatcroft Primary School
□ Other (please state) _________________________

3. Please let us know your views on the proposal

Agree Disagree Don’t know

To enlarge the school
premises from
September 2011 to
accommodate an
additional 15 reception
□ □ □
places
 4 Comments

If you have any comments on any aspect of the proposals, please use the
space below to give us your views (please attach a separate sheet if
necessary).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you would prefer to respond online please visit:

www.hertsdirect.org/csfconsultations