Residents from across Southampton are invited to attend two public meetings this week (beg Feb 27) to hear about the biggest ever review of secondary education in the city.

Southampton City Council is putting forward a set of proposals to develop 12 of the city’s secondary schools and wishes to involve parents and other members of the community in the consultation process.

Thousands of booklets outlining the possible ways ahead for the city’s secondary schools have been distributed to parents, teachers and interested members of the community and there have already been three public meetings attended by hundreds of people.

One proposal is to expand Bitterne Park school from the present 267 pupils to 300 pupils per year.

You can hear about the city council’s plans at two further public on:

• Tuesday February 28 - Boldrewood Conference Centre, University of Southampton, Bassett Crescent East from 7.30pm until 9pm

• Wednesday March 1 - Itchen College, Middle Road, Bitterne, from 7.30pm until 9pm

The council would like to hear from anyone who has an interest in education in the city. It is also keen to hear from people who send their children to school outside the city. As well as attending public meetings, you can:

• Complete the response form included in the Learning Futures document, which is available online here, from schools and by calling 023 8083 3568.
• Write to: Learning Futures Response Desk, Children’s Services and Learning, 4th Floor Frobisher House, Nelson Gate, Southampton SO15 1BZ.
• This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  
• Or complete the online form 
  

All responses should be received by Friday March 17.

Once the responses have been analysed the council intends to carry out a further period of consultation in the summer term before making a final decision on the future shape of secondary education in the city. Any changes in the structure of secondary schools will not take place before September 2007.