Dec 6, 2024, Hampshire County Council: More school places proposed for children with special educational needs
SE England
Hampshire County Council is proposing to expand specialist school places for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) at two mainstream schools in the New Forest and Havant.
Following initial informal consultations with parents, local residents and other stakeholders, the local authority will now open a formal consultation on the proposals which will be published on its website in late December.
Agreeing to move to a formal consultation on the proposals, Councillor Steve Forster, Hampshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education, said: “By the end of this decade, the number of children in Hampshire with Education, Health, and Care Plans could increase by over 11,000, reaching around 28,000. Every new specialist school place we create, including in our mainstream settings, is important.
“We’re taking steps now to support as many children as possible with specialist school places closer to home - reducing the need for expensive and distant independent specialist school placements, along with the associated transport costs.”
Details of the proposed places are as follows:
• Bartley Church of England Junior School, New Forest: extra provision for 12 pupils with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs, to open in phases from September 2025 • Crookhorn College, Havant: extra provision for 15 pupils with Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC), to open in phases from September 2025
These proposals follow a decision in October to formally consult on the provision of an additional 32 specialist places at Holbrook and Bedenham primary schools in Gosport, Cherbourg Primary School in Eastleigh, and Blackfield Primary School in the New Forest. . . .
Currently, to meet demand, many children requiring specialist educational support are funded by the Local Authority to attend independent schools. The cost difference between resourcing a SEND place in a local authority mainstream or special school and a place in the independent sector is significant. If agreed, the total annual cost of the extra places at Bartley and Crookhorn will be £568,796 [$725K], compared to an estimated £1.9 million [$2.4M] for the same number of day places in independent special schools.
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