APPENDIX I

SWIMMING POOL PROVISION AT SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS WITHIN SOUTH CAMBS

Purposes of the report

1. The report begins by providing a summary of existing policy, strategic documents and the work of consultants relating to dual use sports facilities and in particular the provision of swimming pools.

2. The report also provides an overview of the community use of swimming pools at existing special needs schools within the District and issues that may relate to Cambridgeshire County Council’s review of special needs schools.

PART ONE

Background

Strategies and consultants’ reports

3. Since the late 1980’s the Council has had a policy of providing capital support to improve school sports facilities to enable wider community use during evenings and weekends.

4. In November 1994, following further encouragement and support from the Sports Council (Eastern Region), Leisure Consultant Dr George Torkildsen was commissioned to produce a Sport and Recreation Strategy for the District Council.

5. This Strategy looked into all aspects of sports provision and its recommendations included the need for a sports development officer and a more strategic approach to the development of Dual Use Sports Facilities, including the introduction of revenue funding.

6. With regard to deficiencies in sports facilities, the report highlighted the 1994 Eastern Council for Sport and Recreation’s Strategy which stated that the district was “deficient in one sports hall, one full sized artificial turf pitch, an indoor swimming pool and an indoor bowls hall”.

7. Dr Torkildsen concluded that the (then) new pool at Impington may meet this pool deficiency, however

“ with the geographic and population spread and the lack of pools in some of the catchment areas surrounding the village colleges, further small pools could be justified in terms of use by schools and community. Deficiency has been identified in the A14 corridor and a pool at Swavesey, for example, could meet this. Other pool proposals have come from Cottenham and Linton”

8. This Sport and Recreation Strategy was adopted by the Council in April 1995 and a follow up report was provided in August 1995 providing further detail on the role of the sports development officer and on how a more strategic approach to dual use funding might work. A sports development officer was appointed in April 1996.

9. In direct response to the Strategy and its comments on swimming pool deficiencies, a further study was commissioned by the Council. In September 1995, consultants McAlpine, Thorpe and Warrier were appointed to undertake a study on “New Indoor Swimming Pool provision in South Cambridgeshire”

10. The study looked at the feasibility of providing a new indoor swimming pool at three possible sites across the district. These were at Cottenham, Linton and Swavesey Village Colleges being the schools that indicated an interest at that time.

11. The study looked at potential demand in visits per week and the catchment area for each site and carried out interviews at each of the village colleges. It looked in a very limited way the business case for a new pool and the impact it might have on existing facilities. The Consultants also included a random survey of 1,500 households on swimming pool use and demand and considered the views of the district’s primary schools.

12. The consultants considered that Linton Village College had the strongest all round proposal but also suggested that there was the market for a pool in the north with Swavesey as the preferred site over Cottenham.

13. The Consultants also concluded that

“Any new pool provision should be orientated towards non school users and offer some of the modern facilities of a leisure centre such as health suite, crèche and cafeteria rather than being seen as a school pool”.

14. The Study concluded with the recommendations that the Council proceed with a more detailed study and lottery bid for a new pool at Linton Village College. It also recommended that Swavesey Village College be asked to prepare plans for a development on its site together with staffing and programming proposals to assess whether a second pools should be developed there.

15. McAlpine, Thorpe and Warrier subsequently produced a brief document supporting Linton Village Colleges application to the National Lottery Sports Fund for major capital grant aid towards a new pool development. The General Purposes Committee approved a grant of £405,000 in June 1997 towards the bid but unfortunately the application was rejected. The reasons given by the National Lottery were that that the project did not offer value for money and failed to demonstrate its viability from both a financial and management perspective.

16. It should be noted that at the time Council officers were not in full agreement with the Consultant’s findings and felt that they should be considered with some caution.

17. In October 1997, The Sports Development Officer was asked to produce a Five Year Strategy for capital improvements to the dual use sports facilities. The Council’s current Dual Use Sports Facility Strategy was finally approved and adopted by the Council in July 1999 and the programme of improvements to each of the Dual Use Sports Centres is now well underway. Swimming pool provision was not included in the Strategy.

18. In 2000, the English Sports Council used its Facility Planning Model to assess the need for swimming pools, sports halls and full sized artificial turf pitches across England. The Facility Planning Model is a prescriptive planning tool used to define the level of supply of sports facilities required to meet the estimated demand from the population of an area in the peak period.

19. The assessment for Cambridgeshire considered all existing provision and identified deficiencies in a strategic way. It’s finding have been used to support and make a very strong case for new facilities receiving National Lottery funding. The assessment concluded that there was no clear deficiency of swimming pool provision in Cambridgeshire. 91% of demand was apparently being met with the remaining 9 % of unmet demand being thinly spread across the whole county. The study was based on 1996 population figures and didn’t take into account major population growth.

Existing swimming pool provision in the district

20. The following indoor swimming pools in South Cambridgeshire are widely available to the public for casual, pay and play use:

Pool Location Managed by Impington pool (25m long) Impington Village College School Sawston pool (18m long) Sawston Village College School McSplash (20m long) Melbourn Village College McSPA Trust

21. The following indoor swimming pools are based at LEA special needs schools and have varying levels of community use through organisation or group bookings and private hire:

Pool Location Managed by Windmill pool Windmill Special Needs School School, Fulbourn Green Hedges pool Green Hedges Special School Needs School, Stapleford

22. A large number of primary schools and village colleges in the district have small heated outdoor pools which are used only in the summer. These are used by pupils as part of National Curriculum swimming and some have community use managed by local Community Swimming Pool Associations.

23. The Council has a policy not to fund outdoor pools.

24. There are also a number of pools as part of private leisure clubs within the district at:

Moat House Hotel, Bar Hill Forte Hotel, Impington Bourn Golf Club

The Special School Review

25. The Cambridgeshire Special Schools Review (Cambridge City and South Cambs) identified the need relocate LEA special school provision in South Cambridgeshire to one large site. The first choice location is at Linton Village College and plans for this new special needs school are now being drawn up in more detail.

26. The proposals under consideration include a warm water swimming pool, small hall and therapy rooms which are considered as standard requirement for a special needs school of this size. The pool being proposed is similar to that at the Windmill School (10m x 5m)

PART TWO

27. The second part of this report seeks to provide some background information relating to the existing community use of the district’s special needs schools pools in order to help consider what community pool provision might be appropriate for Linton.

Green Hedges Special School

28. The pool is approximately 16m x 6m with a maximum depth of 1.5 m and temperature of approximately 34 degrees. It is not a designated hydrotherapy pool but rather a warm water pool. The pool has a tracking system and disabled hoist to allow access by all.

29. The pool is managed directly by the Head Teacher, Mrs G Newall supported by the Caretaker who deals with the pool plant management, water treatment and maintenance. Regular checks are also made by the LEA.

30. Green Hedges School has strong community ethos and works hard to encourage community use of its facilities and build good relations within Stapleford. The School opens up all its “dry” facilities for community use as one of the partners of the “Stapleford Umbrella Association”. This involves local groups and organisations paying an affiliation fee and all participating facilities work together to provide appropriate venues

31. The School provides a venue for the village “Out of School Club” (rather than the primary school next door) and also accommodates guides, music lessons, the table tennis club and occasional Parish Council meetings. The School also provides an important venue for Cambridge Joint Playschemes, a charitable organisation that provides holiday activities to children and young people with a learning disability.

32. The pool has limited but valuable community use. It is not available during the school holidays. Community use is available only through regular block bookings and there is no casual “pay and play” use. The school does not provide any lifeguard cover so all user organisations bring their own qualified lifeguards.

33. There are 2 main user organisations:

• A private sports company called “Seals” which uses the pool 4 evenings per week and at weekends. They offer a range of swimming lessons for young children and also “club” sessions • The Community Association run through Sawston Village College providing mother and toddler sessions and aqua mobility aimed mainly at the elderly.

34. The pool is only occasionally shut for cleaning relating to incontinence.

35. In terms of operating costs the pool probably breaks even but is unlikely to make any real profit sufficient to fund replacement or renewal costs. The pool has a high “hassle factor”.

36. Mrs Newall emphasised that as part of the Special Schools Review, she had been promised that any new school would offer “like for like or better”.

The Windmill Special School

37. The Windmill Special Needs School directly employs a full time swimming pool manager who also undertakes pool plant and water treatment and some cleaning. The caretaker provides backup when necessary.

38. The school also employs casual/part time lifeguards who cover all community sessions.

39. The pool is 10m x 5 m with a depth of 1.2 m. The temperature ranges from 34 – 36 degrees. The pool has a tracking system and hoist to allow for access by all.

40. Many community users come from the East Cambs/ Ely area.

41. The pool is open 7 days a week from as early as 7.45am until 8pm. There is considerably more community use than school use throughout the day. The pool is used almost to full capacity.

42. Community use is available only through regular block bookings and there is no “casual” pay and play use.

43. There are a great many organisations that use the pool. These include the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Health Authorities for physiotherapy sessions, anti natal sessions and mother and baby classes. There are also a large number of residential/sheltered care housing organisations including Granta Housing, Crossways, Juniper and Norfolk. Some of these are part of larger organisations such as the National Autistic Society. The pool is also used by a number of local disability charities and trusts.

44. “Seals” also use the pool to provide children’s swimming lessons

45. The pool, including the Managers post, is self-financing on an operational basis. As for other pools at school sites, this includes an annual contribution from the LEA for maintenance. This is approximately £4,000 pa for The Windmill Special School pool in 2003. It is unlikely that sufficient profit is made to cover major repairs and replacement.

Officer Comments

46. These two special schools provide important facilities that benefit the local community. If they are to close, this amenity could be lost not only to the people of Stapleford and Fulbourn but also to the wider community.

47. The pools, and in particular the Windmill Pool, are small low maintenance facilities that provide a vital service to some of the areas most vulnerable groups. Relocation for these groups to Linton may not be easy or possible due to the distance from Cambridge. The County Council has recognised this and is in discussions with Ida Darwin exploring options to retain the pool for community use.

48. It should be noted that these pools also provide important additional sports resources for the district offering good venues for children’s swimming lessons. Although swimming is included within the National Curriculum, it is widely acknowledged by local authorities that additional private or funded lessons are often needed to ensure that children become competent swimmers. It is important, therefore, that these lessons are accommodated elsewhere.

Papers used: Sport and Recreation Strategy 1995, New Indoor Swimming Pools in South Cambridgeshire report, Dual Use Sports Facility Strategy, Sport England’s Report on the Facility Planning Model study for Cambridgeshire. Also meetings with The Head Teacher at Green Hedges Special School and the Pool Manager at The Windmill Special School