Agenda item

Report from the Strategic Director of Children & Young Peoples Service.

Recommendations:

That Cabinet:

1. Note the update on the progress made against the Special School Capital Accessibility Funding programme and approve the programme of capital work at Kelford School.

2. Approve the programme of capital work at Rotherham Aspire Pupil Referral Unit to support sufficiency requirements.

Consideration was given to the report which provided an update on Children and Young People Services (CYPS) Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Sufficiency planning. The report included an update on the progress made against the Special School Capital Accessibility Funding programme. The report also requested approval of a programme of capital refurbishment works to support sufficiency requirements at Rotherham Aspire Pupil Referral Unit.

In Rotherham (23/24 academic year), 22.1% of pupils had either a statutory plan for Special Educational Need or Disability (SEND), known as an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP), or were receiving SEND support (previously known as school action and school action plus). This compared to an average of 18.4% across all England Authorities. In order that the educational needs of children and young people in the borough with SEND could continue to be met, the Council had a responsibility to create a sufficiency of education provision to meet the needs of all pupils. From 2018 onwards, Cabinet had approved five Phases of SEND Sufficiency, each targeted at addressing incremental rises in SEND cohorts and creating or improving specialist education provision. The five phases of the SEND Sufficiency programme had created 596 additional school places in Rotherham.

As outlined in the background paper, Safety Valve Cabinet annual update report – 24 April 2023, the Rotherham ‘Safety Valve’ Agreement aimed to:

·       Reduce use of independent specialist provision outside of the LA by creating appropriate capacity within Rotherham’s high needs system, with a focus on ensuring provision is high quality and value for money.

·       Develop local sufficiency arrangements, including for Rotherham’s Looked After Children.

The Special school Capital Accessibility Funding Programme had focused on providing funding to improve access to the curriculum across both mainstream and special schools. The special school accessibility capital allocation had been utilised with great success to support the development of off-site or additional provision for specific pupil cohorts who were struggling to access the existing curriculum offer within special schools. Previous successful schemes had included Nexus (Forest View) and Elements Academy (Elevate Provision.) Details were set out in paragraph 2.3 of the report.

As part of medium term SEND Sufficiency planning, demand for additional specialist placements for pupils with Severe Learning Difficulties had been identified. A feasibility had been completed at Kelford School with a subsequent accessibility application being received detailing the capital requirements for 3 modular classrooms. The total cost for the modular build was estimated at £610k (inclusive of contingency and professional fees), with the Academy Trust contributing £60k. The 3 modular classrooms would provide up to 24 additional specialist placements, with these being phased over the next two academic years linked to appropriate place planning for pupils. The first of the additional places would be available from September

2025.

There had been a gradual increase in pupil numbers in Aspire Pupil Referral Unit over a 7 year period (103 average pupils on roll in 2016-17, 151 average pupils on roll 2023-24). Rising numbers of Permanent Exclusions locally, mirroring the national trend, had contributed to this. Shared systems working within locality education partnerships had been successful in slowing the rate of permanent exclusion and supporting reintegration to mainstream where appropriate. This had helped lead to an overall reduction in the rate of Permanent Exclusions over the past academic year.

Initial feasibility concluded that Capital investment was required to address condition, suitability, and access issues across the Rawmarsh, Hutton Park and Catcliffe buildings and a programme of capital works had been detailed following condition works completed across the three sites. If approved work would be phased across the academic year 2024/2025 and Autumn Term 2025/2026. The majority of the condition related works were situated on the Rawmarsh site and related to improvements to the roof alongside specific mechanical and electrical works. Capital works to improve access to the curriculum through the development of outdoor space, 1:1 support rooms and specific items to improve access to the curriculum through the development of the vocational offer had also been identified across the remaining Hutton Park and Catcliffe buildings. The programme of capital works to support sufficiency requirements across all sites was estimated at a value of £565k.

Resolved:

That Cabinet:

1.    Note the update on the progress made against the Special School Capital Accessibility Funding programme and approve the programme of capital work at Kelford School.

2.    Approve the programme of capital work at Rotherham Aspire Pupil Referral Unit to support sufficiency requirements.