FAQs

Yes, financial assessments show that if the school was at capacity for pupils it would be viable.  

Currently only 20% of pupils at Monkseaton High School live in the local catchment area. Most pupils travel from other areas. Through a co-ordinated admissions procedure, parents would retain choice as to where their child moves to. We will work individually with families who require support with transport and are working with school leaders to increase spaces in our schools in the Borough.  

After consultation with school leaders and governors the decision was made that current Year 9s would benefit from moving schools for their GCSE’s if closure was announced. This would allow them to select their GCSE options and transition into another school ahead of exams. We are listening to the views of parents and carers and alternative suggestions should be submitted to the consultation.  

We know that there is enough capacity across our secondary schools. While schools have agreed Published Admission Numbers (PAN) for their admissions, the capacity for each school to take further pupils is at the discretion of their governors.

We’re engaging with school leaders within North Tyneside to work on a system that will increase parental choice should Monkseaton High School move to closure.

The Council does not control exam bodies and cannot apply for dispensation for pupils for exams, however we acknowledge the impact on pupils. Schools will be able to individually apply for dispensation to exam boards based on the impact on children. A parent can request the school does this. 

Maintaining a high-quality education for young people is our priority. We are working alongside school leaders, who are the employers, on proposals to retain staff at the school if a move to closure is announced in January 2025.  

We’ve updated our admissions portal for current year eight parents applying for year nine placements. This means the system now allows you to add any secondary school to your online application as a preference and you can have up to three preferences.

If you have already applied, you have until the admissions closing date (31 October 2024) to add another preference. Please ensure you have pressed submit once you have done this.

No, it is not.

No decision has been made on the future of the school and therefore, legally, the school had to admit year 9’s this year. If a decision is made to close the school, all year nine pupils will transition in a planned and supported way to an alternative school for year 10. This would be through an extra-ordinary, co-ordinated admissions approach. 

The council cannot control parental choice or mandate schools to change Published Admission Numbers (PANs). Catchment areas are set by the council, however they only come into admissions criteria when a school is oversubscribed and therefore do not heavily influence current numbers.

The financial deficit at Monkseaton High School, and our work to stabilise the school, has been well document in several reports since 2015. These reports are all publicly available, with the latest on 16 September 2024.

There has been a 15% decline in the birth rate in North Tyneside since 2018. That’s around 300 children each year and is the equivalent of ten classes in first and primary schools. The reception year group that started in September 2024 is around 300 less than recent years. This is expected to last for at least the next three years and it follows 15 years of a stable birth rate. 

This decline is even more prevalent in the Whitley Bay and Monkseaton. In the last four years (2019 to 2023) the average birth rate has dropped from 329 to 266. This is over 60 less pupils per year and is reflected in the number of children starting reception this year. 

We know that there is enough capacity for all pupils across our North Tyneside Secondary Schools. We have a statutory role to ensure there’s sufficient school places for all pupils and this responsibility are a key consideration. 

While schools have agreed Published Admission Numbers (PAN) for their admissions, the capacity for each school to take further pupils is at the discretion of their governors and is linked to the physical capacity of the school. Other factors including catchment areas and criteria will play a role too. 

The Council does not decide PANs. A school’s governing body does. 

We know that consultations for school closures present many challenges and recognise that there is no good time to launch a consultation of this nature. We considered the impact on students taking exams and wanted to ensure the process was completed ahead of exams.

300 homes are under construction at Murton Gap and planning is pending for the remaining 2700 homes. It is expected that 900 homes will be built within 11 to 15 years. 

New homes do not always mean new children of education age and the build out period of these homes is longer than the education life of a child. On average, each 100 homes create 32 pupils for all twelve-year groups. This means the total number of pupils the development would bring remains lower than the current birth decline. 

While later years of the development may support the school, the deficit would continue to increase by around £600,000 to £1 million each year. 

It’s funded by the Department for Education and is not from Council tax. The government decides how much money the Council receives for all schools based on its calculations which are mainly focused on the number of pupils in the Borough. The Council has little control over the allocation of this to individual schools, as since 2021 it has followed the government’s National Funding Formula. Once a school receives their funding allocation, it’s the responsibility of school leaders and Governing Bodies to set and manage the budget for their school. 

If a school is set to spend more money than it receives, it becomes known as a ‘deficit budget’ which the Council must approve. However, it remains the responsibility of the school to return to a balanced position and the Council doesn’t generally receive any extra funding to help schools with a ‘deficit budget’. 

In order to stabilise Monkseaton High School, the Council needed to consider as many ideas as possible. One idea explored was moving the three-tier system to a two-tier system of education. This was dismissed following brief discussions as school leaders and governors told us they wanted to maintain the three-tier system. This consultation is not on the tiered system and at this time, the Council has no plans to change the tiered system. However, schools can bring forward their own proposals for change.   

If you child receives travel assistance, please contact the Home to School Transport Team by email,  hometoschooltransport@northtyneside.gov.uk, or by phone on 0191 643 8726, and they will be happy to discuss this with you.

The school building is owned by North Tyneside Learning Trust, not North Tyneside Council. If a school closes and the land is to be used for something other than education in the 10 years after closure, the Secretary of State for Education must give their consent. Any applications for use of the land would be subject to Planning consultation.  

Since 2016 the Council has worked alongside school leaders and Governors to reduce the deficit. This work has included:

• Introducing changes to staffing structures, taking into account factors such as class size and range of curriculum. 
• Explored alternative income streams including rental of buildings and playing fields. 
• Reducing running costs by ensuring all costs such as energy and buying materials deliver value for money. 
• Seeking additional funding through regular discussions with the Department for Education.

Last year, the Council received an additional £1.9 million funding for schools in deficit and the scale of the deficit at Monkseaton High School means it received the largest share of £0.678m. 

We have explored several options which, after careful consideration, exploration and planning, would not be suitable or viable. Members of the public are invited to propose additional options as part of the consultation.  

We have worked with Monkseaton High School and other partners to explore options to make the school viable for the future. The options that have been considered have been dismissed either because they are not financially viable, or because agreement could not be reached. These options are:

• To close the sixth form  
• Monkseaton High School to retain Years 9,10,11 and become the sixth form venue for the Whitley Bay, Monkseaton and North Shields area. 
• To co-locate with Monkseaton Middle School. 
• To explore moving the three-tier system to a two-tier system of education. 
• Changing part of the Monkseaton catchment area into a two-tier system 
• To bring Monkseaton High School and Whitley Bay High School together under one governing body  
• Monkseaton High School to become a secondary school, i.e. admit pupils in Year 7.   
• Exploring opportunities for the school to join an existing multi-academy trust. 

The school has been in deficit since 2016. School leaders and governors have worked with the Council to try to address this, and we’ve put in place a number of measures to try to reduce the deficit. They include reducing staff and the curriculum on offer, restructures, challenging spending decisions and requests for additional funding from The Department for Education. It is clear that these measures, while they have saved money, cannot completely resolve the deficit.  

The responsibility for setting a balanced budget lies with School Leaders and Governors. While the Council helps schools and has to approve any school requesting to set a deficit budget, it does not directly fund schools or determine how budgets should be set.

If at the end of the consultation process closure is put forward, it is proposed this is completed over a two-year period through to 31 August 2026. This is because it is not possible to sustain the school for longer while delivering high quality education due to the impact closure could have on staff retention and building capacity. The deficit would likely increase by around one million in this additional year.

Our aim as a Council is to ensure the continuation of high-quality education for young people. We have carefully considered the impact of transition to another school for the current Year 9 Students and propose that if closure is confirmed following consultation that they would transition to another school at the end of this academic year. This would prevent disruption to GCSEs and create a positive transition between schools.

Parents and carers can also use an in-year application to seek a place at another school which has space in the same year group.

Yes, though not necessarily at a school of your choice.    

If you would like to discuss your child’s education and their future, please discuss this with the SEND Support Service. You can contact them on 0191 643 8684 or by email, on  sendsupportservice@northtyneside.gov.uk

We would work closely with individual staff and trade unions to support staff at the school to secure alternative employment.  This would happen over an extended time period.  Where staff are not able to secure alternative employment, they would be appropriately compensated for this in line with relevant HR legislation.

An application will be made to the Secretary of State for Education, who has the power to make decisions on the future of the building and the school land.  At this stage, there are no proposals for alternative uses proposed for the building and land.

Yes, if an academy sponsor becomes available, they could apply for ownership of the school.   However, work to date to explore this with existing academies and the Department for Education has not provided any positive solutions and the deficit means this is highly unlikely.

You can change your application up to the closing date on 31 October 2024.

Yes, there could be an impact on other schools in the three-tier system.  

Ideally, the capacity and number of pupils on roll in each year group should be the same from Reception through to Year 11.

This consultation closes at noon on 30 October 2024. If no viable alternatives are put forward, we will move into the statutory consultation period with the outcome announced in January 2025.