Background

The proposal has come about because of a significant drop in the number of children of service personnel, for whom the boarding houses were originally provided, now seeking a place in Hampshire’s boarding provision and concerns about the viability of the boarding provision at The Westgate School in particular.

Maintained boarding provision in Hampshire is currently available at The Westgate School for up to 34 girls and Kings’ School for up to 32 boys.

The number of girls accessing boarding provision at The Westgate School has been a concern for several years. Of the present twenty seven boarders seventeen will have left the school by the end of July 2013 with low numbers in the lower year groups (see table below). As at January 2012, of the twenty seven girls boarding at The Westgate one is a member of a service family. Two girls are from families resident in Hampshire, six are from families resident in the United Kingdom and nineteen are from overseas families.

Boarding numbers at Kings’ remain at a level to make the provision economically viable and as at January 2012, of the twenty nine boys boarding at Kings’ five are members of service families. Eleven boys are from families resident in Hampshire, seven are from families resident in the United Kingdom and eleven are from families living overseas.

The forecast number of boarders for each school

Westgate	Y7	Y8	Y9	Y10	Y11	Y12	Y13	Total
2011/12	2	4	4	7	9		1	27
2012/13	1	2	4	6	7			20
2013/14		1	2	4	6			13
2014/15			1	2	4			7
2015/16				1	2			3

Kings	Y7	Y8	Y9	Y10	Y11	Y12	Y13	Total
2011/12	6	5	5	6	4	2	1	29
2012/13	6	6	5	5	6	2	2	32
2013/14	6	6	6	5	5			28
2014/15	6	6	6	6	5			29
2015/16	6	6	6	6	6			30