Agenda item

(1)     The report sought the views of the Board on undertaking a Public Consultation concerning a proposal to relocate Grange Park School to a site within the grounds of Wrotham School.

(2)     As part of the review and reorganisation of special schools in Kent, Grange Park School in West Malling was re-designated in 2004 from being a school for 55 pupils with ‘Severe, Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties’ from the ages of 11-19 years, to become a provision for ‘Severe Communication Needs associated with a combination of Autism and Severe Learning Difficulties’ for boys and girls aged 11-16.  The roll remained at 55.  Additional places were added to meet the needs of post-16 provision, based at Holmesdale School in Snodland.

(3)     The school was currently based in 1970s single-storey buildings of SEAC construction and was located in Leybourne, West Malling.  The buildings were considered inadequate for their re-designated purpose.  The site was too restricted to accommodate further mobile accommodation. The existing building footprint now contained an outside learning environment, and sports facilities.  The needs of the particular pupils required small class sizes and the availability of 'break-out' spaces.  The site which the school currently occupied was too small to accommodate the facilities which the school required.  Recently, the school’s utility services had been seriously affected by the adjacent housing development.

(4)     Wrotham School was a Specialist Humanities Secondary School, which was situated between the villages of Borough Green and Wrotham.  The school gained specialist status for humanities in September 2005.  Wrotham was a Foundation School which held its land and buildings in Trust.  The proposed relocation of Grange Park School onto the Wrotham School site would not affect the operation of Wrotham School, neither would it occupy too much of the school’s site.  Grange Park School would be a separate and self-contained school with its own headteacher, governing body and staff.  Wrotham School’s existing site area was approximately 82,511m².  The minimum requirement for a school of its size was 51,440m².  Grange Park School would require a site area of approximately 11,825m².  There was currently a surplus site area of 31,017m² on the Wrotham site, sufficient space to accommodate Grange Park School in a building with the capacity to accommodate a maximum of 55 pupils.

(5)     The Local Authority had been in discussion with the headteacher and governors of Grange Park School during recent years about the school’s location.  Other site options had been considered during this period, but they had proved to be inappropriate.  Wrotham School was recently identified as a suitable site for the relocation of Grange Park School.  Early discussions had taken place with both headteachers and Chair of Governors regarding the possible relocation.  The governing body at Wrotham School agreed, in principle, with the proposal.

(6)     The proposal was to relocate Grange Park School from its existing site in Leybourne, West Malling, into a new 2,000sqm school building on the Wrotham School site with a target date of September 2009.  The new school would be built to accommodate 55 boys and girls from the ages 11-16 and would be designed to be a ‘school for the future’, able to meet the requirements of the curriculum now and in the future.  There were three potential locations for the new school on the Wrotham school site.  Jacobs Babtie had been commissioned to carry out the feasibility studies on all three locations. 

(7)     The local members, Mrs S Hohler and Mrs V Dagger fully supported the proposal and their views were set out in the report.

(8)     The capital costs of building the new school would be in the region of £4m.  It was expected that the funding to facilitate the new build would come from the Special School Review budget.  There would not be any costs involved in acquiring land from the Governing Body of Wrotham School.  All staff and pupils would transfer across to the school at its new site and it was not anticipated that job contracts would be affected.

(9)     The Board supported the proposal that there should be a public consultation on the possible relocation of Grange Park (Special) School from its existing site at Leybourne, West Malling to an identified site at Wrotham School.