Bradstow is a maintained special school catering for children up to the age of 18 with severe and complex special needs. It is a rare and highly specialised school and integrated care facility at which the quality of education has been rated Outstanding by Ofsted for a number of years (most recently in July 2024), looking after some of the most vulnerable young people in our society. It is often the school that a range of authorities seek to place young people in when other schools are not equipped, resourced or qualified to cater for their needs, and virtually all of the young people at Bradstow today have had numerous challenging experiences in prior mainstream and even special school settings prior to arrival at Bradstow. It has provided education and care of a high quality for many years, employs over 180 staff and provides a vital role in the community and the wider region.
Bradstow has been under the governance and ownership of Wandsworth Council since 1990, despite its location on the east coast of Kent. This complex oversight structure has created numerous challenges over time, due to the distance of the school from Wandsworth and the fact that Bradstow tends not to be acknowledged in any discussions in the county of Kent about its special needs provisions. It is also recognised that the number of young people Wandsworth Local Authority places at Bradstow has been in steady decline over a number of years, with Kent placing the highest number of young people in the current school cohort.
On November 11th Wandsworth suddenly announced their intention
to consult on a proposal to close the school citing financial
viability. This is an extremely tight timescale and is not
supported by the governors, staff or parents. The announcement has
created enormous anxiety and panic amongst the families of young
people at the school, who face the prospect of either being forced
into school provisions which are unsuitable for their needs, may be
significant distances from the family home, or potentially having
no alternative school place at all for an undefined period.
Governors, staff and parents are united in their determination to
challenge Wandsworth’s intentions and to seek all avenues to
keep this unique school alive.
Parents past and present testify to the hugely positive –
indeed in many cases life-changing - impacts the school has had on
their child, and thereby in turn on their entire families, and
there are many examples of ex-Bradstow pupils moving on to
fulfilling and productive lives which had been previously
inconceivable as a result of the care, nurture and development
provided by Bradstow staff. The prospect of the damage and lasting
implications the closure of the school will have on the current
group of 33 young people at the school, and of the loss of such a
remarkable establishment for future young people with such needs is
deeply concerning.
With the assistance and co-operation of officials at Wandsworth, Bradstow school staff and the board of governors are conducting a thorough analysis of the school’s financial position and prospects, and are exploring new solutions to establish a viable and sustainable future operating model for the school. It is firmly believed that such solutions can be found.
It is known that Kent is in a very challenging financial
situation generally. Wandsworth are claiming there is a significant
amount of unpaid fees owed to them by Kent for the placement of
young people from Kent at Bradstow - placements which were
requested and agreed as recently as July 2024 - and that these
debts are a significant factor in their decision to close the
school. We also understand that Wandsworth has already offered to
transfer the freehold of the school site to Kent, and that offer
has been refused to date. It is firmly believed that solutions can
be found to resolve these issues if all relevant parties work
together with a creative and can-do spirit so that the school can
continue to provide the vital services it offers
In the wider context of the well-documented challenges in the SEND
system both nationally and within the county, and the scarcity of
places in any provision of the kind required to care for these
young people, every effort should be made to retain a school like
Bradstow rather than allow it to be consigned to history. Most
importantly of all, it is a moral and societal duty to put the
interests, care, development and future prospects of vulnerable
young people and their families front and centre in all
considerations about school and care provisions. Bradstow is a rare
glimmer of optimism for families of young people with severe and
complex needs, and must not be allowed to become another depressing
statistic.
This petition therefore requests that Kent commits to work with
other key stakeholders - Wandsworth Council, senior leaders of the
school and its governing body, staff, parents and the local
community - to prevent the closure of Bradstow School and secure a
path to a viable future.
This ePetition runs from 12/12/2024 to 12/03/2025.
4 people have signed this ePetition.