Report by Jenny Lingrell, Assistant Director, Commissioning, Performance and Quality
Recommendation:- To receive an update presentation and note the progress.
Minutes:
Jenny Lingrell, Assistant Director for Commissioning, Performance and Inclusion, reported on the proposals that were to be considered at the next meeting of the Cabinet on 23rd November, 2020. The proposals would address current and future Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND) sufficiency issues that have been highlighted by SEND data and identified in the Rotherham SEND Sufficiency and Social Emotional Mental Health Strategies.
Rotherham currently had two key issues in relation to sufficiency of education for children with special education needs and disabilities that needed to be addressed:-
1. There was a lack of designated social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) educational provision.
2. Newman Special School building needed extensive work in order to bring it to the required standard to effectively deliver education for children and young people with disabilities.
A strategic options appraisal outlined four different approaches to respond to the issues identified and deliver the required outcomes for Rotherham’s children and young people.
The opportunity presented was, therefore, to support children and young people with SEND to achieve improved outcomes through the development of new, modern, and well-designed provision on the Dinnington site which have sufficient space and resources to meet the needs of the children who would attended there.
The buildings would provide the opportunity to open a new special school that was dedicated to educating children and young people with Social Emotional and Mental Health needs, and providing safe, modern and well-planned new buildings for children and young people who attended Newman Special School. The upper school at Newman would move to the Dinnington site, providing the space required to do the required capital works on the main school site.
Rotherham had a lack of dedicated educational provision for children with social, emotional and mental health needs (SEMH) and, at present, children in Rotherham with SEMH needs either attended Rotherham PRU provision at Aspire or Rowan. These provisions could meet need, but have physical limitations in terms of building capacity, (both Aspire and Rowan lacked suitable accommodation). Children who did not attend Aspire or Rowan were sent out of area to high cost provision.
In addition, Newman School, Rotherham’s oldest special school, was sited in a listed building which was no longer of the required standard to effectively deliver education for children and young people with disabilities and required some investment.
The recommended option was to purchase Dinnington College which incorporated Block A, C, B and D at Dinnington College.
Block A would be adapted to provide a primary and secondary designated SEMH educational provision for up to one hundred and twenty-five children and young people, under the DfE Academy/Free school presumption process.
Block C and D would be adapted to provide upper school provision for around forty young people from Newman School.
Block B would be demolished and adapted to provide (along with other outdoor space) the required soft and hard play area for the two educational provisions.
The proposals themselves were welcomed and Paul Silvester, Head of Newman School, and Lianne Camaish, Principal of Aspire, echoed how much of a positive difference this would make in Rotherham.
This opportunity would allow for a managed transfer of children and young people with SEMH needs from PRUs into the new SEMH provision and allow for the transfer of the upper school provision from Newman site to Dinnington College. This will enable the works to be completed at Newman school whilst remaining operational for the remaining children and young people.
Any new school proposal must be developed under the DfE free school presumption process and would require formal notification to DfE and proposals to be drawn up in the form of a prospectus outlining the need for the new school and context.
Agreed:- That the report be received and the contents be welcomed and noted.
ACTION:- ALL