Merger plans for special schools

Two special schools in Spalding look likely to merge as Lincolnshire County Council overhauls provision.

The town’s Garth and Priory schools both cater for children with defined special needs, but will join forces to offer wider provision.

The county council is looking at changing the current system as more children need help.

A strategy document for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) is due to be discussed by the county’s Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee tomorrow.

“Proposals are identified within the report and will be subject to wider consultation,” the report says.

Currently there are 20 special schools in Lincolnshire, offering places for a range of needs. But rising demand means that many of them have significant capacity issues.

“The strategy proposes to make significant changes to the existing specialist education provision, creating an integrated system where pupils attend their nearest school, confident their educational and health needs can be fully met,” the report says.

The proposal would see an end of “disability segregation” within education and enable pupils to attend their local school which will meet all types of need.

Only those needing British Sign Language as a first language may have to travel as the numbers are small.

The strategy aims to create All Needs special schools which will be able to meet the needs of pupils who have been unable to educated in the county, specifically pupils with Autism Spectrum Disorder and challenging behaviour.

“We are committed to enabling pupils to access special school education as near to their community as possible and that means ensuring there is adequate capacity,” the report says.

Some 84 pupils currently travel up to 80 miles a day (round trip) for school while 493 are travelling up to a 40 mile round trip.

“The consequence of special school designation and capacity is that almost 70 per cent of pupils do not attend their nearest special school.

“The impact of considerable travel distance on pupils and families cannot be underestimated,” said the report.
The county council is allocating more than an additional £2m of capital investment over three years

* The county council is also likely to go out to tender for providers of education to students permanently excluded from the mainstream.

More places are needed and a report to the authority says more than the current 75 places are needed to ensure future provision.

Vocational learning is preferred for 15 and 16-year-olds and members of the children and Young People Scrutiny Committee tomorrow.