Issue - meetings

The number of children and young people assessed as requiring a place at a specialist education provision in the BCP area has increased in recent years and this has increased expenditure on high needs. As part of the Council’s strategy to address growth and associated financial pressure, work is underway to implement a programme of expansion of specialist school places across the conurbation which will help provide local access to cost effective places and a reduction in the Council’s reliance on costly independent placements. As one in a number of schemes currently in development, it is planned that Broadstone Middle School run by the Castleman Academy Trust will expand the existing resource base to provide an additional eight resource base places for children with autism spectrum condition (ASC). The proposal is for the expansion of the existing resource base known locally as The Link, from 15 places to 23 places from September 2022.

The Director of Education presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'G' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The number of children and young people assessed as requiring a place at a specialist education provision in the BCP area had increased in recent years and this had increased expenditure on high needs. As part of the Council’s strategy to address growth and associated financial pressure, work was underway to implement a programme of expansion of specialist school places across the conurbation which would help provide local access to cost effective places and a reduction in the Council’s reliance on costly independent placements. As one of several schemes currently in development, it was planned that Broadstone Middle School run by the Castleman Academy Trust would expand the existing resource base to provide an additional eight resource base places for children with autism spectrum condition (ASC). The proposal was for the expansion of the existing resource base known locally as The Link, from 15 places to 23 places from September 2022.

Other options considered included creating provision on other local school sites, commissioning new school provision and doing nothing. The Council continued to explore options to create provision on other local school sites and was in the process of preparing an application to the Department for Education (DfE) for new free school provision. Doing nothing was not an option for meeting the Council’s High Needs strategy. The proposal to expand the resource base at Broadstone Middle School was the only option in this case which achieved a timely progression pathway to enable the current Year 8 children to remain on roll in Year 9. This was the recommended option and for which an approval for a budget as contained in Appendix 1 was necessary to provide an additional 8 places from September 2022. A temporary change in age range would provide continuity for existing children on roll. From September 2023/24 the resource base would offer a total of 23 places for children aged 9-13 years old.  The approved capital programme included funding for the proposed scheme as part of a programme of SEND place expansion.

The Committee discussed the report and comments were made, including:

• In response to a query regarding onward progression and those moving through the school years, the Committee was advised that there was a whole range of creative and viable options being considered such as possibility of a satellite on site provision, the challenge was to complete the project on time for the incoming Year 8 cohort
• The positivity of Academy Trust was welcomed
• The Committee requested a progress report in 2023 ADD TO FORWARD PLAN

RESOLVED that the Committee note the capital budget as set out in Appendix 1 to expand the existing resource base provision at Broadstone Middle School. The funding would provide a new Learning Resource Centre co-located on the existing school site.