Special Children and Young People Select Committee
CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE SELECT COMMITTEE – 18 OCTOBER 2004 - MINUTES
SPECIAL CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE SELECT COMMITTEE
MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON
18 OCTOBER 2004
Councillors: GrahamPask(Chairman)(P), PeterArgyle(P), TrevorBanning(AP), JohnChapman(AP), MrsSandraHarding(ViceChairman)(AP), MrsSusieKemp(P), AndyKilgour(AP), KeithLock(P), MrsIreneNeill(AP), TerryPort(P), PaulPritchard(P), MsCarolineSuggett(P), EmmaWebster(AP), AlexanderPayton(SP), Paul Bryant(SP), Chris Webber(SP), Bob Judge(SP), Keith Chopping(SP), MarcusFranks (SP)
Co-opted Members: MissSueBrown(A), FrancisConnolly(P), MrsJennyGuthrie(AP), BrianWaters(P)
PART I
32.APOLOGIES.
Apologies for the inability to attend the meeting were submitted on behalf of Councillors Emma Webster, Irene Neille, Trevor Banning, Sandra Harding, John Chapman, Andy Kilgour and Mrs Jenny Guthrie.
33.DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST.
There were no interests declared.
34.SEN INCLUSION POLICY AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN.
The Chairman introduced the meeting by welcoming invited guests and explained the reasons behind the call-in of the SEN Inclusion Policy and Development Plan.
Ian Pearson introduced the topic of co-location by explaining that it was not a new concept and was not about closing Special Schools or making financial savings. It was about locating Special Schools on suitable mainstream sites but with specialist accommodation. Pupils would remain on role at the special school and any integration would be through the agreement of both schools and the child and their family. Co-location was felt to give pupils more opportunities through accessing “personalised learning” pathways.
The Select Committee watched a video about the co-location of Hazel Court Special School with Causeway Secondary School which included the opinions of the children involved.
The Chairman welcomed Steve Huggett – SEN National Advisor Team, DfES to the meeting. Mr Huggett outlined the current Government strategy for Special Educational Needs which had been introduced in February 2004. The strategy set out four main areas:
- Early intervention within schools in addition to pre school age children
- Removing barriers to learning and inclusive practices
- Expectations and achievement across the SEN spectrum with a range of new materials and approaches outlined
- Delivering improvements through Partnership
The Select Committee was informed that over the last few years, there had been a steady increase in the number of children with SEN being educated in mainstream schools. However, it was recognised that for some children, this would never be an option. For those children who were able to learn alongside mainstream children, studies suggested that it had been beneficial for both sides.
Mr Huggett said that the DfES saw co-location as one of a range of strategies for removing barriers and helping children to learn and that the DfES recommended looking at each area individually and choosing the method most appropriate to suit that area. .
Following questions from the Select Committee, Mr Huggett stated that from figures he had seen, he thought that West Berkshire was about average in the number of children who had statements of special needs and of the children who were educated in Special Schools.
The Chairman welcomed Mr Peter Gordon, Head Teacher at Hazel Court Special School in East Sussex, which was co-located with the Causeway School, a mainstream secondary school.
Mr Gordon stated that his school had new purpose built co-located premises as shown on the video that the Committee had seen earlier. The video had been made by parents who wanted to publicise the work of the school. The Select Committee heard that the two schools had the same colour uniform, but kept their original school badges. This was so that it was recognisable that there were two schools on one site, rather than one school. 30% of disabled children joined the mainstream lessons, although some only stayed in the lesson for 15 minutes, depending on their individual needs. Ofsted had visited the school and considered the benefits for mainstream pupils to be as good as for SEN pupils.
Mr Gordon stated that when the proposals for co-location had been drawn up, parents had most concern over security and bullying. Both issues were given careful consideration in designing the new school site and neither concern had proved to be an issue. The Select Committee heard that the policy of East Sussex was that co-location should be considered for all newly built schools or where substantial refurbishment was to take place.
Following questions from the Select Committee, Mr Gordon stated that mainstream pupils were taught very carefully about different disabilities and learnt to stop seeing the disability and learn about the person. There was a need to free up staff and make them available so that they could support children with SEN in mainstream settings, but that there were considerable benefits to be had from integration.
The Chairman welcomed Mrs Christina Niner, Head Teacher at Springfield Special School, West Oxfordshire to the meeting.
Mrs Niner stated that pupils at her school had previously been managed on three school sites, but that in 2003, they moved to a fully integrated Primary School and that three classes of the more able secondary school age pupils co-located at the Secondary School site. The new school had separate classrooms but shared a nursery although there was a separate assessment nursery. The new school premises had been designed so that it was impossible to tell where one school stopped and the other began, yet the Special School had retained its own specialist facilities. The co-location policy had opened up opportunities for children to mix with their peers at a level appropriate to their needs and this approach was very much tailored to suit the child on an individual basis.
Joint staffing arrangements were also in place for administrative and cleaning staff and the two schools were considering appointing a joint teaching post. The PTA’s also worked well together and co-location had enabled a more effective use of resources. Co-location had allowed them to have access to enhanced facilities such as IT equipment, food technology facilities, PE equipment and inter- active whiteboards that they would not have been able to afford on their own.
Following questions from the Select Committee, Mrs Niner stated that she would place great importance on having a new purpose built site on which to co-locate schools. She said it was an extremely long process as they had recognised that Springfield School needed to move back in 1991 when the Local Authority had promised that their school would be the next new school built.
The Chairman welcomed Mr John Byrne, Head Teacher at Brookfields Special School to the meeting. Mr Byrne stated that he also inspected Special Schools for Ofsted and had seen first hand the work being done at Hazel Court School. He said amongst other things, the shared staff room was a powerful model to removing barriers and promoting inclusion.
Mr Byrne stated that he and his Governors supported the idea of co-location providing personalised learning opportunities for those pupils who would benefit from it. He stressed that a personalised approach tailored for each individual child would be the only way in which they would want to see it work.
Following questions from the Select Committee, Mr Byrne stated that a PFI bid had been submitted for a Primary, Secondary and Special School to all be located on one site, but this bid had proved to be unsuccessful.
The Chairman welcomed Mrs Kerry Gray, Head Teacher at the Caste School to the meeting. Mrs Gray informed the Select Committee that when she arrived at the school three years ago, plans were already in place to co-locate with Victoria Park Nursery. Following a successful co-location, Castle School Governors had asked her to look at other models of co-location which she had done in Bristol, Leicestershire and Oxfordshire.
Mrs Gray stressed that inclusion was happening in the Castle School, for those pupils to whom it was appropriate. Some Castle School pupils spent 50% of their time at a local Secondary School. Co-location would not necessarily increase the level of inclusion, but would make it easier, as it may entail a walk across the playground rather than a taxi journey.
Following questions from the Select Committee, Mrs Gray stated that if the proposal was that Castle school be broken up and located on different school sites, then she would only want to co-locate with the best schools to ensure the best for her pupils. It would be difficult to think where to put 150 Castle School pupils with a primary and secondary school and the current arrangements being co-located with Victoria Park nursery school had worked well.
Mrs Gray stated that she would expect comparable or enhanced facilities on each school site and that it would be difficult to manage several sites but that the current management agreement arrangements in place with Victoria Park Nursery were working well.
The Chairman welcomed Mrs Fiona Bridger-Wilkinson, Head Teacher at Victoria Park Nursery School to the meeting. Mrs Bridger-Wilkinson stated that prior to the co-location of Victoria Park Nursery and Castle School, there had been extensive planning and full consultation with parents. The co-location was felt to be working well as children from both schools had access to a wider range of facilities and had found good role models in each other with regard to speech, language and behaviour. Staff had become multi sensory and more reflective in their approach to working with the children and the mainstream children had learnt to see beyond disabilities and to see the child for themselves. The Nursery provided mix and match sessions for individual children to suit their needs and Mrs Bridger-Wilkinson invited the Select Committee to visit the Nursery to see for themselves how co-location was working.
Following questions from the Select Committee, Mrs Bridger-Wilkinson stated that she did not believe that mainstream children were compromised by having children with special educational needs in their class as staff were available to help children at all times.
The Chairman welcomed Mrs Sian Cook, Parent of a child who attended the Castle School to the meeting. Mrs Cook stated that she did not feel that the information heard at the meeting had touched on the health needs of special needs children. Mrs Cook stated that as a parent, a child’s health needs came before their educational needs and the Select Committee would need to consider the whole picture rather than just the educational benefits co-location could bring. Mrs Cook stated that for some children, integration was not an option as their needs were so severe and that such children should be cared for in a specialist environment and she was concerned that this would not be provided by co-locating special and mainstream schools. Also, that co-location could be seen as an excuse to save money by the Local Authority. Mrs Cook felt that the SEN consultation document that was sent round to all Parents was a very weighty and intimidating document which might explain why so few people responded to it.
Mrs Cook posed a number of questions to the Select Committee with regard to the specialist facilities that would be needed if Castle School were to be split into four different sites. For example whether there would need to be four school nurses or four hydrotherapy pools instead of one as there was currently. The Select Committee heard that Mrs Cook was not against the principle of inclusion, but that the Local Authority would need to ensure that the needs of all children and their families were met as for some, inclusion was not a valid option. In addition, Castle School was a place where parents and family members could go and be with others who had similar circumstances to them, so there was a readily available support network allowing them to feel safe and secure, which might be missing from a mainstream school setting.
Following questions from the Select Committee, Mrs Cook stated that she would wish to see assurances over pastoral care and the quality of teaching before supporting any proposals over the co-location of the Castle School with another school.
The Chairman welcomed Mrs Margaret Hubbard, Parent of a child who attended the Castle School to the meeting. Mrs Hubbard stated that her son had a form of autism and had progressed extremely well at Castle School. He had developed the confidence to go into a mainstream secondary school in the mornings and therefore inclusion with a mainstream school had worked really well for him. She agreed that a personalised approach would be needed in order to provide the best for each child.
Upon debating the issue, the Select Committee discussed the recently published Ofsted report which cast doubt over how suitable inclusion was for the development of pupils. The Select Committee welcomed the idea of co-locating special schools in their entirety but not breaking them up and co-locating with individual primary, secondary and nursery schools. It was felt that this option would lead to dilution of the work of the special school and a difficulty in managing a school that was split onto several different sites.
Officers clarified that the SEN Plan was only setting out the principle for co-location, not the detail with regard to specific schools. It was stated that the principle was supported by both Head Teachers of West Berkshire Special Schools and the DfES. The Council recognised that both schools had life expired buildings and would require huge maintenance costs in the future. Therefore all plans for co-location were being considered but had to be properly planned and consulted on any definite conclusions were reached.
The Select Committee raised concerns that the option of relocating Castle School in its entirety was not being considered equally with other options. There was concern over information that parents and teachers had received that was adding to uncertainty as to what the long term plans for co-location were.
Officers clarified that no decision had been made over models of co-location and that with regard to Castle School, total relocation was being considered as an option equally with the split sites option.
The Select Committee agreed that they needed to be kept informed as to progress over the co-location project and asked for regular reports to be brought back to the Select Committee and full consultation to take place with parents throughout.
RESOLVED that the Select Committee advise the Executive that:
(1)the Children & Young People Select Committee accepted the decision made by the Executive on 9th September 2004;
(2)the Children & Young People Select Committee supported the principle of co-location and inclusion with the preference that Special Schools should be relocated in their entirety.
(3)the Children & Young People Select Committee would like a progress report on co-location to come back to the Select Committee in 6 months time.
(The meeting commenced at 7.00pm and closed at 10.00pm)
CHAIRMAN……………………………………………
Date of Signature:……………………………………………