(UK) Tunbridge Wells: New special school; demand fueled by increase in SPED students

Sept 6, 2023, Tunbridge Wells Times: Proposed SEN school could help alleviate local need https://www.timeslocalnews.co.uk/local-news/proposed-sen-school-could-help-alleviate-local-need/

Near London

The Witherslack Group is set to open a specialist education school only 4.5 miles from Tunbridge Wells.

The plan is to open the Special Educational Needs (SEN) school for primary and secondary pupils near Tonbridge, in the former Fosse Bank School, which closed suddenly in March.

The education provider has applied to refurbish the site in Hildenborough and the new school will cater to children aged eight to 18.

Subject to Grade II listed-building consent from Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council, the school will open in March 2024 and create 60 new jobs.

The Group provides specialist education and care for young people with a range of special needs, including autistic spectrum conditions, Asperger’s Syndrome, speech, language and communication needs, and other complex learning needs. ...

The proposed new school will be good news for local parents, who have felt the squeeze of a lack of placements for local children in specialised SEN environments.

The demand for specialist schools has clearly been fuelled by the increase in children needing SEN support, says a specialist advisor for buying and selling businesses, Christie & Co….

Government statistics have confirmed that an increasing number of children require a place at a specialist SEN school. Kent County Council is forecasting a £12.5 million [$16M] overspend in recruitment in this area….

The number of children with EHCPs in Kent mirrors the national upward trend. More than 14,000 children across the county already have an EHC plan, and more than 30,000 receive SEN support without one.

In Kent, the number of initial requests for an EHCP in 2022 was 3,669. Twenty-six per cent of those initial requests were refused during the calendar year.

Meraud Davis, a Behavioural Specialist at Aspens, told the Times: “EHCs can take years to get, and can be a very expensive and unpleasant process.

“We have one young person who has been diagnosed with autism and has been waiting 18 months for their EHCP.

“We need additional funding and better access to support for those with additional needs and a more forward-thinking and earlier approach to support.”

On July 26, the Times featured the story of Jemma Maddock, the mother of Arthur Maddock, 5, who has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Ms Maddock has been attempting to enrol her son into a specialist school since March 2022....

“The majority of our school-aged children and young people with SEN attend a special school, with a significant proportion attending ‘out of county’ special schools”.

The additional issue affecting SEN placements is the continuing battle to recruit for multiple specialist roles in the SEN sectors. As at Friday August 31, an online search revealed a minimum of nine roles locally in the sector were still taking applications and needed to be filled for the start of the first term. Specialist schools Oakley School and Broomhill Bank are recruiting for multiple roles, including a full time SEN teacher and teaching assistants for the first academic term.

A report by the Tunbridge Wells Borough Council Finance and Governance Advisory Board, in advance of a meeting yesterday, states that within SEN, “recruitment has continued at pace, but the use of [agencies] remains high, to provide additional capacity, while the new structure and processes are embedded”.