To determine the proposed expansion of the Special Educational Needs designation for pupils at Rowdeford Special School, Rowde, Wiltshire to include severe learning difficulties (SLD).
Decision type: Non-key
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Notice of proposed decision first published: 04/04/2018
Decision due: Not before 12 Apr 2018 by Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children's Services, Education and Skills
Lead member: Cllr Laura Mayes, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children's Services, Education, and Skills laura.mayes@wiltshire.gov.uk
Department: Families and Children
Contact: Susan Tanner, Head of Commissioning and Joint Planning Email: susan.tanner@wiltshire.gov.uk/ 01225 713563 Email: susan.tanner@wiltshire.gov.uk.
Consultation process
As a part of the cabinet decisions made on the 7th of November 2017 regarding the development of special schools it was agreed that consultation should go forward to consider expanding the SEN designation of Rowdeford special school to include severe learning disability (SLD). As per the guidance within the Department of Education’s publication “School Organisation – Maintained schools” (April 2016) a four week consultation period was undertaken between the 22nd of January 2018 and the 16th of February 2018. The consultation documentation was made available to key stakeholders. Stakeholders were encouraged to respond by filling in a consultation reply form, by post, email and via the Wiltshire Council and Local Offer Websites .
In addition, meetings were held with parents, governors, staff, pupils and interested parties. The SEN Lead Commissioner and the Head teacher led the meetings with staff, governors and parents. The school led the consultation with the pupils.
17 staff and governors and 8 parents/carers attended the meetings.
There were 11 written replies to the consultation, of these 2 were from parent/carers of young people at the school, 2 were from parents of children with SEND attending other non-Wiltshire Special schools, 4 were from members of staff, 1 was from a governor and 2 were from head teachers from Wiltshire Primary schools. Of the 11 responses 7 were in favour, 1 comprised a number of queries and 3 proposed the need to look at the wider implications and were not in favour unless looked at in the wider context. Two of these last responses were from parents who do not currently have children in Wiltshire Specials Schools.
As per the DfE guidance this document and this resulting delegated decision are drawn from the information and discussions that were exchanged through the above process. Key areas of discussion and comment:
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Carers and Parents |
Response |
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1) The key concern was around pupils who might formerly have been accepted at Rowdeford, who may now be encouraged to consider a mainstream school. Parent/carers wanted reassurance that additional training and support would be given to mainstream schools to ensure the support to vulnerable young people was enhanced. 2) In addition, there was some concern that Rowdeford staff would also need additional training to meet the needs of pupils with SLD. 3) This change should not be seen in isolation, the Council should look at this alongside developing all special schools. The suggestion was made that there should be an executive head over the MLD/SLD schools, similar to Three Ways.
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1) There is a parallel piece of work being taken forward to support and guide secondary schools as they take on pupils with higher levels of need, particularly around vulnerability in the large secondary school system. 2) Larkrise school have offered to support Rowdeford school in increasing levels of training and confidence around young people with SLD 3) Rowdeford senior leadership have offered to help create a support package of training and awareness raising for mainstream secondary schools. 4) Virgin care have offered to support the change through collaborative training. 5) The Special schools project is considering the wider development needs of specialist provision. |
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Pupils |
Response |
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1) The pupils were very positive. The young people welcomed the changes and made key suggestions for how the school could be adapted to welcome pupils with higher needs e.g. more sensory room space.
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1) We have thanked the young people for their input and the school will be building some of the suggestions into their implementation plan. |
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Staff and Governors |
Response |
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1) The main concern raised by staff was that they felt that places needed to be increased at the same time. They appreciated the support for upskilling around SLD and wanted reassurance that there wouldn’t be a sudden leap in pupils with SLD. 2) There was also some concern that there would be a need for additional equipment/resource 3) However, they largely saw it as a positive step forward for the school. |
1) There will be an implementation plan written up by the school looking at all aspects of training and support and how classes will be configured in the future to meet need. 2) Banding will be higher for young people with SLD and this should support the need for additional resource. 3) In the consultation session, we were able to reassure the staff that we didn’t anticipate a huge surge in young people with SLD and we would be trying to create cohesive and incremental growth while also looking at the broader implications.
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Written Feedback
In addition to the consultation responses and replies there were 2 emails with questions requesting clarification on details in the consultation documents and parents wanting to better understand how the changes would impact on their particular child’s education. These types of questions were shared with the school/commissioning team and individual responses were given.
The Local Authority’s response
In response, the local Authority would like to thank all those who participated in face to face or written consultation. These face to face sessions were engaging and helpful in looking at not only this immediate decision, but also the wider issues for special schools. Having considered all the responses and considerations raised, the Local Authority believes it is appropriate to expand the SEN designation for Rowdeford School to include SLD from the 1st of June 2018 for implementation at the start of the summer term 6. As encouraged by those involved in the consultation, the school will be supported to develop the necessary skills and expertise to meet the higher level needs of pupils with Severe Learning Disabilities and the school will write an implementation plan to adjust to the change. There will also be on-going work with mainstream schools to support more vulnerable young people with lower levels of MLD who might formerly have been considered for Rowdeford school.
The wider issues raised will be taken up through the Special Schools project and it was encouraging to have positive feedback from parent carers about the need to see this change in the light of these wider considerations.