The High Peak and Derbyshire Dales Learning Federation ‘Geography and context’

Map of High Peak & Derbyshire Dales

 

A brief overview of the local areas served by the Federation will be useful contextual information. It helps to explain both the challenge that originally brought the 11 schools together, and the great significance of their enduring partnership.

 

Derbyshire is a large (255,000 hectares), diverse, but mostly rural county. It consists of nine local authority districts (LADs), which extend from South Derbyshire, in the southernmost tip of the county, to High Peak in the north west. The High Peak district (54,079 hectares) shares a border with Derbyshire Dales (79,548 hectares) but High Peak’s other main borders are with Yorkshire, Cheshire and Greater Manchester, including Stockport MBC. The Derbyshire Dales district forms roughly a rectangle lying north to south, adjoining High Peak in the north, with North East Derbyshire, the Amber Valley and South Derbyshire along its eastern border and Cheshire and Staffordshire on its long western edge.

 

The size and location of the High Peak and Derbyshire Dales are important influences in the development of the consortium and the subsequent patterns of curriculum development, both in school and with post 16 partners.

 

 

The High Peak Local Authority District – a few key facts

“The High Peak is one of the smallest (measured in size of population) Local Authority Districts in the county” according to the Derbyshire LSC Household Survey 2001.

Total Population 89,421
Males 44,166
Females 45,255
Under 20 Population 22,486
20 – 24 3,945
25 – 64 49,178
65+ 13,812
Total number of Employers 3,289
Total number of Employees 30,188
Unemployment rate as at June 2002 1.8%

Source: 2001 Census of Population

With a relatively small population so widely dispersed it is not surprising that the LSC Derbyshire Household Survey 2001 notes about the High Peak:” Most residents do not consider themselves to be part of Derbyshire. The City of Derby is remote to them, few have visited Derby and few feel any reason to. Most residents (of the High Peak) feel that they live in remote communities with little contact with other communities. …residents from Glossop feel a sense of identity with Manchester and use a range of services in Stockport, Hyde, Ashton under Lyne and Manchester. Even residents in New Mills look towards Stockport rather than Derbyshire for services. Buxton residents feel that Buxton is a self contained community….”

Derbyshire Dales Local Authority District – a few key facts

The Derbyshire Dales Local Authority District “is the smallest LAD in the county” (LSC Household Survey op. cit), again measured by population.

Total Population 69,472
Males 34,265
Females 35,207
Under 20 Population 15,599
20 – 24 2,704
25 – 64 38,020
65+ 13,149
Total number of Employers 3,557
Total number of Employees 30,965
Unemployment rate as at June 2002 1.0%

Source: 2001 Census of Population

Unemployment Rates

Both the High Peak and Derbyshire Dales have low and declining levels of unemployment as can be seen in the table below. Unemployment in Derbyshire Dales is classed as “very low” in comparison with e.g. Chesterfield, Bolsover or Derby.

 
June 2002
May 2002
June 2001
Number
%
Number
%
Number
%
Derbyshire Dales
419
1.0
486
1.2
539
1.3
High Peak
758
1.8
750
1.8
932
2.2
Derbyshire
14,046
3.0
14,508
3.1
15,933
3.5

Source: ONS June 2002 seasonally adjusted.

Duration of Unemployment (%)

As can be seen from the table below,

  • The majority of claimants in both LADs have been unemployed for less than 3 months.
  • But the levels of claimants in the High Peak who are considered to be long-term unemployed (unemployed for more than 12 months) are well below the county average; at 11.2% whereas the Derbyshire Dales figure at 15.1% is closer to the county figure of 18%.
 
Less than 3 months
3 - 6 months
6 - 12 months
1 - 2 years
2 years +
Derbyshire Dales
46.7
22.2
16.0
8.9
6.2
High Peak
58.4
20.1
10.6
7.4
3.8
Derbyshire
43.6
21.0
17.6
10.9
7.1

Source: NOMIS (computerised claimant count – age and duration) June 2002

The consortium schools – a few key facts

As can be seen in the table below, seven of the 11 schools are for students aged 11-18, including all the Dales schools and Buxton Community School, New Mills School and Sixth Form Centre and Glosspdale Community College. The catchment areas served by the schools also help to account for their range in size, from 369 on roll in one 11-16 school to 1907 on roll in the largest 11-18 school. Two schools are Roman Catholic secondary schools, two schools are technology colleges, three are sports colleges, one is a Business and Enterprise College and the Hub School for Derbyshire, one is a Science College, two are Performing Arts Colleges. Lady Manners School has Beacon status.

Consortium Schools Age range 11-16 or 11 - 18 Nos on roll 18 January 2001 (DfES figures) Yr 11 Cohort 2001 (DfES figures)
Anthony Gell 11-18 603 86
Buxton Community 11-18 1255 209
Chapel-en-le-Frith 11-16 771 149
Glossopdale Community 11-18 1907 310
Highfields 11-18 1468 244
Hope Valley 11-18 524 100
Lady Banners, Bakewell 11-18 1540 245
New Mills School 11-18 917 143
Queen Elizabeths, Ashbourne 11-18 1202 206
St Philip Howard, Glossop 11-16 414 82
St Thomas More, Buxton 11-16 369 69

Table 1. Schools in the High Peak and Derbyshire Dales Consortium. Source: DfES

It is a testament to the achievements of Heads and the many other staff involved in consortium developments that the consortium has gone from strength to strength since 1999, despite the huge challenges presented both by rurality, distance and the diversity of the schools themselves noted above.