§ Mr. Evelyn Kingasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the best estimate she has of the extra cost involved in the event of a sixth form being established at Lytchett Minster School.
§ Miss Margaret JacksonDorset Education Authority has estimated that the cost of bringing the premises at Lychett Minster up to the standard required for a comprehensive school for 11 to 18 year-olds would be £359,000 at November 1977 prices. Some of this cost would. 765W however, be incurred in bringing the premises up to the standard required for a comprehensive school for 11 to 16 year-olds.
The authority has estimated that the small size of the proposed sixth form would require a subsidy in excess of the normal staffing ratios for sixth forms of three to four teachers, at an annual cost of £15,000 to £20,000; or alternatively an undue constraint on staffing in other classes.
§ Mr. Evelyn Kingasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the number of pupils now studying at Lytchett Minster Comprehensive School; and what assessment she has of the number that will be attending in three years' time.
§ Miss Margaret JacksonAt January 1978 there were 583 pupils at Lytchett Minster comprehensive school. Dorset Education Authority has estimated that in three years' time there will be 687 pupils at the school.
§ Mr. Evelyn Kingasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science in the light of her decision to forbid a sixth form at Lytchett Minster Comprehensive School, what estimate she has made of the cost of transport per pupil per week for future pupils living in Lytchett Minster to Corfe Mullen, Poole or Wimborne schools.
§ Miss Margaret JacksonI am informed by the Dorset Education Authority that the bus fares from Lytchett Minster to Corfe Mullen are £7.60 a week; to Poole Grammar School—the site of a proposed sixth form college—£5.40 a week; and to Wimborne £9.10 a week. Savings could be made by buying monthly season tickets. Most local education authorities are prepared to assist towards the travelling costs of sixth form pupils.