Designate the Key Stage 2 Social Inclusion Class at Cefn Fforest Primary School
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Consultation on the proposal to re- designate the key stage 2 Social Inclusion Class at Cefn Fforest Primary School Table of Contents Page(s) Introduction 3 Who will we consult with? 3 The consultation process 3 How to make your views known 4 Background to the proposal 5 Details of affected schools 5 Information on Cefn Fforest Primary School 5 Information on Tyn y Wern Primary School 8 Information on Ynysddu Primary School 9 Admission arrangements 10 What is the basis for this proposal? 10 What is the educational case for re-designation the Social Inclusion 10 Class? What will be the likely impact of the proposal on school pupils? 11 What is the likely impact of the proposal on the staff of the SRB at 12 Hendre Junior School? What are the financial implications of the proposal? 12 What will be the likely impact of the proposal on the local community? 12 Community impact assessment 13 What are the disadvantages of this proposal 13 Any risks associated with the proposals and measures required to 14 manage these Description of any alternatives considered and the reasons why they 14 have been discounted. What is the statutory process to re-designate the Social Inclusion 14 Class at Cefn Fforest Primary School? Questionnaire 16 Appendix 1 – List of Consultees 17 Appendix 2 - Five year forecast of pupil rolls School and Previous five 18 school censuses. 2 Consultation on the proposal to re- designate the key stage 2 Social Inclusion Class at Cefn Fforest Primary School. Introduction The Local Authority wishes to seek the views of a wide range of stakeholders on a proposal to re-designate the Key Stage 2 Social Inclusion class at Cefn Fforest Primary School to a Foundation Phase Complex Needs specialist setting. • Cefn Fforest Primary School currently hosts two specialist classes. One key stage (KS) 2 class is designated for children with Complex Needs a second KS 2 class is designated as a Social Inclusion Class. There are currently 8 pupils attending the Social Inclusion Class and 7 pupils attending the Complex Needs Class. It is proposed that these changes will come into effect from 31st December 2016. Who will we consult with? Before a decision can be made the Local Authority is required to undertake a statutory consultation with all interested parties. The consultation process represents an opportunity for people to learn about the proposal, ask questions and make comments that will be recorded and considered when the Local Authority decides on a way forward. Caerphilly Local Authority will be seeking the views of a wide range of stakeholders, organisations and other interested parties. A list of all those being consulted is attached at Appendix 1. The consultation process The consultation will start on 4th January 2016 and be completed at 5pm on 14th February 2016. Feedback from the consultation will be collated and summarised and a report presented to the Local Authority’s Cabinet on 16th March 2016. The Local Authority’s Cabinet will consider the report and will decide, based on the feedback, whether to proceed with the proposal, make changes to the proposal or not to proceed with the proposal. If the Cabinet decides not to proceed the proposal will not be progressed. If the Cabinet decides to proceed with the proposal a statutory notice will be published providing a 28 day notice period for objections. The statutory notices will be published on the 11th April for a 28 day statutory notice period until 9th May 2016. The Schools Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013 requires that anyone wishing to make objections to a school organisation proposal has the opportunity to 3 do so. To be considered as statutory objections, objections must be made in writing or by email and sent to the Local Authority within 28 days of the date of the proposals. If there are objections the Local Authority’s Chief Education Officer will publish an objection report providing a summary of the objections and her response to them before the end of 7 days beginning with the day of the Local Authority’s decision as to whether to proceed with the proposal. The Local Authority’s Cabinet will consider the draft objection report at the next available cabinet meeting to determine the outcome of the statutory notice. If the Local Authority’s Cabinet approve the proposal, the proposal will be implemented in accordance with the date given in the statutory notice or any subsequently modified date. In the case of this proposal the implementation date is 31st December 2016. What do you now have to consider? The remainder of the consultation document sets out the rationale for the re- designation of the Social Inclusion Class at Cefn Fforest Primary School. It is proposed that the re-designation will take place on 31st December 2016. How can you make your views known? A consultation questionnaire is attached and is also available on the Local Authority’s internet site http://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/My-Council/Consultations/School- consultations The questionnaire also enables consultees to register their wish to be notified of the publication of the consultation report to the Local Authority’s Cabinet. The views of pupils are important and a consultation session, facilitated by the Local Authority, will take place with Cefn Fforest Primary School Council and pupil representatives from the Social Inclusion Class and KS2 Complex Needs SRB. You are welcome to put your views in writing to: The Chief Education Officer, Penallta House, Tredomen, Ystrad Mynach, CF82 7PG Email: [email protected] All correspondence should be received no later than 5pm on 14th February 2016 Please note that responses to the consultation will not be counted as objections to the proposals. Objections can only be lodged following publication of the statutory notice. 4 As Cefn Fforest Primary School is an English medium school all the consultation documents have been produced in English. If a Welsh language copy of the consultation document is required, please contact the address above. Background to the proposal A key priority for the Local Authority is raising standards and improving the quality of education for all pupils but especially those in vulnerable groups. The purpose of the Additional Learning Needs (ALN) Review has been to review functions of individual services and provisions in order to ensure that provisions are well matched to the needs of learners. Whilst the quality of Special Educational Needs (SEN) provision in Caerphilly is good the ALN Review has identified that there is a need to begin to realign the range of SEN provision within the Authority. On 9th December 2015 Cabinet considered the Chief Education Officer’s report on the Review. The report referred to key local and national strategic documents including the School Organisation Code 2013. Members were informed that an analysis of provision and future demand revealed the need for further reorganisation and development of Specialist Resource Base (SRB) provision. Members noted and approved the recommendations. Details of affected schools Information on Cefn Fforest Primary School. Cefn Fforest Primary School serves the village of Cefn Fforest, although approximately a third of the pupils come from the Blackwood area of Caerphilly, it is an English medium school with a pupil places capacity of 294 including 42 nursery places. In December 2015 there were 283 pupils on roll including 29 nursery children. The number of nursery places at Cefn Fforest Primary School will not be affected by this proposal. Details for the previous five school censuses and the five year forecast of pupil rolls at Cefn Fforest Primary School are included in Appendix 2. The school currently hosts two specialist classes; a Social Inclusion Class and Complex Needs SRB. The condition category of the school as identified by the 21st Century Schools Survey is C Cefn Fforest Primary School was last inspected in February 2014. Estyn judged the school’s current performance as ‘good’ and the school’s prospects for improvement were also judged as ‘good’. Provision in the resource base classes was good and it was noted that pupils integrate successfully into mainstream classes for some activities. 5 The Social Inclusion Class takes pupils in years 3 and 4 from other schools in the local authority. Pupils do not have to have a statement of SEN to access this provision. Pupils attending this class are dual registered and return to their ‘home’ school for one day per week. Pupils in the Social Inclusion Class have up to a maximum of four terms in the class. Following this time they return to their catchment school. By December 2016 (the proposed date for the re-designation of the Social Inclusion Class) all children attending the class will have completed four terms in that setting and will have returned to their home school. There are currently two children whose home school is Cefn Fforest attending the Social Inclusion Class. Of the remaining six children, three travel between 4.4 miles and 8.4 miles to attend the class, the other three children travel an average of 2.6 miles to attend the class. All pupils, except the two children whose home school is Cefn Fforest, receive home to school transport. The number of children on roll in the Social Inclusion Class over the past 5 years is detailed below. It should be noted that as children attend on a rolling 4-term programme numbers can vary across the academic year. 15-16 14-15 13-14 12-13 11-12 Cefn Fforest 8 4 5 5 8 The Complex Needs SRB caters for KS2 pupils with complex learning and associated needs from all over the local authority.