Local democracy

Consultation

Sufficiency of specialist places for children and young people with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) across the Bradford District - Beechcliffe Special School/Ellar Carr Pupil Referral Unit

Purpose of the consultation

The Local Authority has a statutory duty to keep under review the provision it makes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) whilst also ensuring there are sufficient specialist places available to meet the needs of the growing SEND population.

 

Bradford has experienced a significant increase in demand for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision in the last 10 years. It is projected that the demand for SEND provision in Bradford will continue to grow and it has been identified that additional specialist places across all sectors in the Bradford District are required. This initial consultation is to share and gather information on the development of further specialist provision places to enhance the current specialist provision offer across the District.

 

To maximise the opportunities for expansion and creation of new provision we will keep under review any possibilities of expanding and re-configuring existing spaces to maximise the capital allocation.

 

In 2019/2020 we proposed  to increase the amount of specialist places available through a range of services by expanding and developing further specialist provision to enhance the network of Special Schools, Early Years Enhanced Specialist provision (EYESPs), Resourced Provision places both School and Local authority led in mainstream schools, that are required to meet the current and future needs of children and young people with a range of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

 

In July 2019 the council; executive approved the development of:

 

  • 34 resourced provision places and
  • 40 additional special school places.

 

In addition to the proposals, 215 additional specialist places were also proposed across the academy sector, requiring approval from the Regional Schools Commissioner. The Regional Schools Commissioner approved these in July 2019. This left a further 65 places to be developed. The below proposals are in addition to this.

 

We are now seeking the views of all stakeholders and interested parties on the development of further additional specialist places to be delivered within the Bradford District.

 

The Proposals are as follows:

 

The Local Authority is proposing to increase the number of Special School places for Secondary aged pupils with Social Emotional and Mental Health needs, with effect from February 2020 by:

 

The Proposals are as follows:

·         Closing Ellar Carr Pupil Referral Unit and using the site to operate as a split site of Beechcliffe Special School

And

·         Expanding Beechcliffe Special School from 144 places to 224 places. To deliver additional Social Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) provision

 

Your views are important to us, please take a few minutes to answer our short questionnaires by following the links below:

 

·         Beechcliffe Special School/Ellar Carr Pupil Referral Unit

 

If you do not have access to the internet or you would prefer a paper copy of this questionnaire or any of the documents, please contact 01274 438260 or email SendPlacesConsultation@bradford.gov.uk

 

Pre-consultation documents

 

If you would like further information about the proposals please refer to the following documents:

 

 

We are also holding a number of public consultation meetings. Please see details of the scheduled events below:

 

  • Monday, 11 November 2019, 1pm to 2pm at Keighley Library Annexe – Spencer Street, Keighley, BD21 2BN
  • Thursday, 14 November, 1.45pm to 2.45pm at Bradford City Hall– Centenary Square, Bradford BD1 1HY

 

The pre-consultation closes on Monday, 18 November 2019. 

 

All responses must be received by this date. 

 

Thank you

 

 

Supporting documents