Proposal to increase the capacity of Saxon Wood School, Basingstoke – Consultation

Hampshire County Council would like to hear your views on the proposal to increase the capacity of Saxon Wood School, Basingstoke.

Saxon Wood School is a 34 place special school catering for 2-11 year old pupils with Physical Disability (PD) and complex medical needs. The school is successfully meeting the needs of children with a range of difficulties in a safe and secure environment.

The County Council is proposing to undertake internal refurbishment works, and a one classroom expansion - these works will allow the school to increase the capacity on the main site by up to additional 10 places from September 2021. The works will provide additional internal teaching accommodation to enable more children to attend the school and also improve the overall learning environment for all pupils. This will give a final overall capacity of 44 places at Saxon Wood School. Works to the car park are also planned together with closing the access from Barron Place which should reduce the traffic flow through the local roads.

Reason for proposal

Hampshire County Council is committed to expanding successful provision where possible to meet demand. Currently there is an increased need to provide support for pupils with complex medical and learning needs in this area of the county. This proposal will provide much needed specialist educational capacity to meet this increased demand.

Where a Local Authority proposes to permanently enlarge a special school’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 special school places in the Basingstoke area.

The consultation and decision-making process is outlined below:

• This initial consultation will run from the 5 March to 2 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 with the proposal

Frequently asked questions

Site plans

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.

If you are unable to send an email but wish to make a comment, please write to Christine Jones, SEN Service Manager, Children’s Services Department, EII Court North, Winchester, Hampshire SO23 8UG by 2 April 2021.