Agenda item

The attached report provides an update on the building developments at Silverwood School, a co-educational special school for children and young people aged 4 to 19 years, formed in September 2020 with campuses in Rowde, Trowbridge and Chippenham (former schools of Rowdeford, Larkrise and St Nicholas). 

The chair informed the committee that the attached report provides an update on the building developments at Silverwood School, a co-educational special school for children and young people aged 4 to 19 years, formed in September 2020 with campuses in Rowde, Trowbridge and Chippenham (former schools of Rowdeford, Larkrise and St Nicholas). 

Cllr Jane Davies (Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, SEND and Transition and Inclusion) was invited to speak on the report.

It was stated that the desired outcome did not just revolve around the buildings but the excellent education of the children.

The delays were noted but it was stressed that positives have been seen in the offers of support from Longfield, Hardenhuish and Paxcroft Schools. Specifically Paxcroft was singled out for high praise given the agreement of a ten year lease on some outdoor space to reduce physical constraints on Silverwood School in Trowbridge and the lease of a temporary classroom for a year whilst the transition is completed.

A risk was highlighted in paragraph 25 that couldn’t be fully controlled but was being closely managed.

The Head of SEND and Inclusion gave a PowerPoint presentation that can be found in the agenda pack.

Key points from the presentation included:

Demand for a specialist place is extremely high. Places are increasing from 340 to 460 across Silverwood School.

The new build has had 40 weeks of construction delays, however £10,000 per week was received from the developer as compensation for this.

Transitional developments are in place and solutions have quickly been implemented, including the hosting of a satellite provision from Bellefield School for the past 2 years. Satellite provisions are being prepared at Paxcroft, Longfield, Longmeadow and Hardenhuish Schools.

Delays to phase 3 have had implications for phase 4, with phase 5 being the retention and investment in Chippenham and Trowbridge and are in the early stages of building plans.

The overriding intention is for the Silverwood leadership team to have as smooth a transition as possible.

The need to manage a growing number of students at Silverwood given the ongoing work was stressed.

Silverwood had its first Ofsted inspection recently which will be shared when the report is available.

Debate

During the debate the following points and clarifications were raised:

The delays are predominantly down to weather issues. The biggest risk for the project was ensuring that the delivery of the electricity sub-station for the new building was completed by October 2023. Delays are being managed and additional support is being provided where needed. The most important thing is mitigating the effects of any delays.

The committee expressed its delight at the teamwork shown by the surrounding Trowbridge Schools mentioned in the report.

Financial liability for damage to materials lies with the contractor Wilmore Dixon and the contract with them is well-crafted.

The committee expressed its concern at the additional costs from the delay. It was clarified that although money was being received from the contractor for the delays there is a shortfall against the additional cost.

It was clarified that some of the additional cost was due to mobile classrooms having doubled in priced and become more difficult to source.

The committee requested a written answer regarding paragraph 25 and the issues of SSE once the correct legal advisors had been consulted with for information.

Cllr Piazza left at 12:52pm.

Resolved

1.    To note the report

2.    To request a written answer on the risks associated with the delivery of the electricity substation to be provided by SSE.

3.    For a briefing to be given to the chair and vice-chair in early February 2024 to update on the planned move to Rowde classrooms from April 2024. At that time the chair and vice-chair will consider whether an update on the whole programme should be presented to the committee at its meeting on 12 March 2024.