Proposed decision: to allocate funding from the Education and Young People’s Service Capital budget for the accommodation works, to increase the physical capacity of Meadowfield (Foundation Special) School from September 2017. The School provides for children aged 4 to 19 years with Profound, Severe and Complex needs, including Autism. The School has a designated number of 209 and has taken additional children above this number for two years to meet the demand for places. Currently there are 246 pupils on roll at the school. The school requires new accommodation and facilities in order to cater for the needs of the additional pupils.
How the decision relates to Facing the Challenge and Corporate Objectives: Providing additional places at the school will help to secure our ambition “to ensure that Kent’s young people have access to the education, work and skills opportunities necessary to support Kent business to grow and be increasingly competitive in the national and international economy”, as set out in ‘Increasing Opportunities, Improving Outcomes: Kent County Council’s Strategic Statement (2015 - 2020)’.
The Commissioning Plan for Education Provision in Kent 2017-2021 sets out
how the County Council will carry out its responsibility for ensuring there are sufficient places of high quality, in the right places, for all learners and this increase of school places supports that aim.
The ‘Strategy for Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs and who are Disabled’ (SEND Strategy) “has a priority to create at least 275 additional places for ASD and BESN”
The matter is referred to in the Directorate Business Plan/Medium Term Capital Programme.
Decision type: Key
Reason Key: Expenditure or savings of more than £1m;
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Division affected: Swale Central;
Notice of proposed decision first published: 06/03/2017
Department: Education & Young People's Services
Contact: Marisa White, Area Education Officer - East Kent 03000 418794 Email: marisa.white@kent.gov.uk Tel: 01227 284407.
Consultees
The Commissioning Plan for Education Provision 2017-21 was endorsed by the Education and Young People’s Services Cabinet Committee on 23 November 2016 and approved by Cabinet on 23 January 2017.
A report on the increase in physical capacity at Meadowfield School will be presented to the Education and Young People’s Services Cabinet Committee on 30 March 2017, and the outcome of that meeting included in the decision paperwork which the Cabinet Member will be asked to sign.
Other
consultation planned or undertaken: If, after a full feasibility
report, it is deemed possible and appropriate to provide the school
with accommodation solutions to further increase the physical
capacity, it is planned to undertake a public consultation on a
proposal to permanently increase the designated number to
270.
The Members and electoral Divisions which are affected by this proposed decision are Roger Truelove and Lee Burgess (Swale Central)
Financial implications: Any costs of this project will be outlined in the report that will be considered by the Education and Young People’s Services Cabinet Committee on 30 March 2017.
Legal implications: Any legal implications will be identified in the report to the Cabinet Member for Education and Health Reform before he takes the decision to allocate the capital funding.
Equalities implications: None