THE voice of the community must be heard before any decision is made on the closure of a school’s Sixth Form, Lichfield’s MP has said.
Nether Stowe School has launched a consultation on the “advantages and disadvantages” of continuing with post-16 provision.
It comes after the school said Sixth Form numbers meant the current average class size was just five students.
Lichfield MP Dave Robertson, who sat his A-Levels at Nether Stowe School, said:
“This news is obviously concerning for students and families. It must be very difficult to hear – not only for the Year 12s but also for the Year 11s.
“I have already raised this with the Department for Education and secured a meeting with the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership that the school is part of on Monday.
“We need to make sure that the community’s voice is heard throughout this process. Pupils at Nether Stowe should always have the best of opportunities at 11, 16 and 18.”
In a letter to parents, headteacher Kirsty Jones said the numbers joining the Sixth Form had not increased as anticipated, creating a “significant financial burden on the school’s budget”.
She said:
“When the school joined the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership family of schools, the trust bought wholeheartedly into the vision of maintaining an 11-18 offer.
“We understand the small size of the Sixth Form at Nether Stowe School is, for many students and their families, its appeal. However, cuts to educational budgets over the past few years mean that maintaining the courses we would like to offer is challenging.
“School leaders have worked hard with recent cohorts to grow the Sixth Form. The numbers have not increased as planned.
“Growing – or even maintaining – the offer is not feasible without increased numbers.
“Unfortunately, the low uptake at the start of this academic year and low rate of applications this year has meant we must revisit what our provision should look like in future years.
“We currently have less than 25 students in Year 12 which means that our average class size is five students. This constitutes a significant financial burden on the school’s budget.”
Ms Jones – who was appointed as headteacher in November – added:
“We know that this consultation will cause anxiety for the current Year 12 students, and we wish to stress that we are committed to these students and will ensure that these students are able to complete their chosen courses.
“It is not the intention to fully close the Sixth Form in September as Nether Stowe School was chosen by these students and we will ensure that they are able to complete their studies as planned.
“We will ensure that these students, the pride of our school, are supported to continue to their next steps.
“In the situation where Nether Stowe is unable to provide them with the teaching that they require to complete their courses we will be leaning into our network of partnership schools as well as other local providers to ensure that they can complete their education.
“A large part of the consultation will consider our responsibility to the current Year 11 students who have applied to study here in September 2025. We will take account of their views and other possible options for their post-16 education.
“We must stress however that currently too few have applied to the Sixth Form for it to be a viable option.”