Consultation on proposal to increase the capacity of Bedenham Primary School, resourced provision for pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs (SEMH), Gosport

There is already an 8 place resourced provision at the school supporting pupils with SEMH needs. The school is successfully meeting the needs of these children in a supportive, safe and secure environment and has an excellent well being and mental health aware environment for all children attending.

With the agreement of Mrs Bolton, the Executive Headteacher, Mrs Wood, the Head of School and the school Governors, the County Council is proposing to refurbish an area of the school and outdoor space to create a new area in the school for the resourced provision. These works will allow the school to increase the capacity of the resourced provision by an additional 4 places from September 2021. This will give a final overall capacity of 12 within the resourced provision. 

Reason for proposal

Hampshire County Council is committed to expanding successful provision where possible to meet demand.  There continues to be an increased need to provide support for pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs in this area of the county. This proposal will provide much needed extra capacity to meet some of this increased demand.

I would like to reassure you that this proposal is alongside a range of developments to support the increasing number of pupils requiring specialist provision. We are currently working on projects for more resourced provisions in mainstream schools and colleges, further expansions and development of satellite provisions for our current special schools and, where funding is available, building additional specialist schools. This is in addition to working with mainstream schools to develop their offer for meeting the needs of pupils with special educational needs.

Where a Local Authority proposes to permanently enlarge a specialist provision’s capacity by 10% or more it must follow a procedure set out by the Department for Education.

The consultation

The purpose of this consultation is to seek the view of all stakeholders on the principle of increasing the school capacity to meet the demand for additional resourced provision places in the Gosport area.

The consultation and decision-making process is outlined below:

• This initial consultation will run from the 22 March to 30 April 2021.
• A report outlining the consultation responses received will then be taken to the Elected Member for Children’s Services & Young People in May 2021 to decide if the proposal should continue to the formal statutory consultation stage.
• If approved, a statutory Public Notice would be published in May/June 2021 setting out Hampshire County Council’s intent to increase the capacity of the school and to add to its designation. This is a four week period in which any representations can be made to the local authority.

A final report would then be taken to Elected Member for Children’s Services Decision Day in July 2021 who will decide whether or not to proceed. For more information, please see the FAQ linked below.

Frequently asked questions

Further information

Due to Covid-19 restrictions and ensuring public safety, unfortunately we are unable to hold a public drop-in event at the school.  However please send in your views and queries by email to [email protected].

If you would like to speak to an Officer then please make that request by email, briefly outlining your query so we can arrange a mutually convenient time for you to speak to an appropriate officer, either via conference call or telephone.

A website has also been set up with the details of the consultation which includes some ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ that may address any queries you have. To access this website please go to the online address below: http://consultations.hants.gov.uk/active.aspx

If you are unable to email or visit the above website and wish to make a comment then please write to Claire Campling, Assistant SEN Service Manager, Children’s Services Department, EII Court North, Winchester, Hampshire SO23 8UG by 30 April 2021.