Proposal to establish permanent special needs provision at Babington Community College and Hamilton Community College

Overview

About the Schools

Babington Community College is a Trust school which provides education for young people aged 11 -16. Hamilton Community College is a community school which provides education for young people aged 11 – 16. Both schools are co-educational, admitting boys and girls.

The schools are due to have extensive building works completed under the Government’s “Building Schools for the Future” programme. The plans for each school provide additional specialist accommodation for young people with special educational needs.

The Proposals

It is proposed to establish a permanent Designated Special Provision (DSP) for young people with Communication and Interaction needs at each of the following schools:

• Babington Community College
• Hamilton Community College

Each DSP will have 10 places and the young people admitted will have a statement of special educational needs or be admitted whilst a statutory assessment of their special needs is carried out by the local authority. The DSPs will provide specialised education for young people with communication and interaction difficulties, including those with speech and language difficulties and pupils on the autistic spectrum.

The proposals are being led by Leicester City Council and are supported by the governing bodies of both schools. It is also planned to establish a 10 place DSP at English Martyrs’ Catholic School. This proposal will be subject to a separate consultation led by the school governors. Before any decision is made by the council, we would like to hear your views on the proposals. We believe that establishing these DSPs will provide the pupils, parents and community with excellent educational provision and provide opportunities for full inclusion within a mainstream setting.

Your views are important to us. Please take the time to read this information and, if possible, attend the consultation meeting and let us know what you think of the proposals.

When will the proposals take effect?

Pilot provisions have been operating at Babington Community College and English Martyrs’ Catholic School and are performing very successfully. These proposals formalise the arrangements at Babington Community College and will allow the school to admit up to 10 young people once the specialist accommodation is available as part of the build programme. The provision at Hamilton Community College has been included in the design specification for the new school building and will start to admit young people when the new build is complete.

The planned completion dates for the new build and refurbishment at the schools are as follows:

• Babington Community College – August 2014
• Hamilton Community College – October 2014

What are the benefits?

• More young people able to attend secondary schools with skilled staff who can provide high quality teaching in an appropriately resourced environment;
• Young people provided with opportunities to engage in the full range of experiences offered by a mainstream school;
• The development of whole school approaches to allow the full inclusion of young people with special needs. This will provides a better educational experience for all young people at the schools;
• Staff members across the school gain specialist knowledge and skills required to support young people with communication and interaction needs;
• Greater parental choice when considering the most appropriate setting for their child’s secondary education;
• Specialist provision will be available at a local school rather than requiring often vulnerable young people to travel long distances to school. This will also result in long term cost savings to the council as the number of young people placed in expensive residential schools and out of city special schools is reduced.

Public Meeting

Two public meetings will be held regarding the proposals:

Date: Monday 10th June 2013

Time: 2:00pm

Venue: Babington Community College

Date: Wednesday 12th June 2013

Time: 5:00pm

Venue: Hamilton Community College

At each meeting you will be able to hear from council officers and staff from the schools. After a short presentation you will be able to ask any questions you may have. The meeting should last about 45 minutes.

The meeting is mainly for parents and carers of pupils, but school staff and their representatives, governors and young people may also attend, although dedicated meetings for these groups will be held during the consultation.

What happens next

A number of people and organisations including pupils, parents/carers, staff and their representatives, governors, local schools, local MPs and the community will be consulted on these proposals during the consultation period of Monday 3rd June 2013 to Sunday 14th July 2013.

All responses to the consultation will be presented to the City Council Executive to enable a decision on the way forward to be taken. If it is decided to proceed with the proposal, then a statutory notice will be published to seek formal representations. At the end of this period, the City Council Executive will determine whether to implement the proposals.

At each stage of the proposals, information will be updated on the council website.