Archived decisions
Appendix E3
Special school provision in the East New Forest
Forest Edge School - parents' consultation meeting
01 March 2007
A consultation meeting was held with parents on at 1.00 pm at Forest Edge School.
Present from the Local Authority
Chris Holt - Education Officer (School Review)
Alex Munro - Education Officer
Present from Salterns School:
Miss R Wiles - Headteacher
Mrs Helen Tongue - Deputy Headteacher
19 parents
Start of meeting: 1.00 pm
Close of meeting: 2.25 pm
Introduction
Chris Holt introduced the meeting by referring to the consultation booklet, stressing that although the focus was on the three special schools, the review affected the whole New Forest area. He referred to the importance of creating a learning community based on the Forest Edge, Abbotswood and Lydlynch sites.
He also referred to the likely timescale and the importance of government funding through Targeted Capital Fund (TCF) for primary and Building Schools for the Future (BSF) for secondary. He said that, if the proposals were accepted, both Forest Edge and Salterns Schools would close and, initially, a 2 - 19 school would be established, based on the Forest Edge site but with secondary pupils with severe learning difficulties remaining on the Salterns site.
Mr Holt emphasised the important role of the temporary governing body which would be set up to prepare for the opening of the new school and, most importantly, to appoint the new headteacher.
The following questions were asked and comments made:
Pupils
1. If there were new buildings on the Forest Edge site, would the pupils continue to attend as usual?
2. How would pupils' safety be ensured?
3. If a 2 - 19 school were to be established initially, would it just be the SLD pupils who would stay beyond Year 6 with the MLD pupils transferring to Oak Lodge as usual?
4. SLD pupils would be very vulnerable at playtimes unless special provision was made for them
5. The number of children with special needs is growing, particularly those with autism. We need to be certain that children will be taught in small classes.
6. Is the intention to push more children into mainstream?
7. Nowadays, pupils have more severe special needs than in the past. Will they be properly funded?
8. Our children imitate others. What would be the effect of a wider range of pupils in the new school?
9. Stability is very important for our children. They do not like change.
10. Would children with more severe needs be poor role models for MLD children? Social skills are as important as education.
Procedures
11. We will need more details before we can be convinced
12. If we agree the proposals via the response sheet, we will be "signing away children's lives" without having all the information we need.
Buildings
13. What will happen to the Salterns site once it is no longer needed?
14. Access to the existing school is very poor, could capital receipts from the selling of the Salterns site be used to improved access and parking?
15. At present, ambulances have great difficulty in reaching the school, as do mini-buses. Would the current access be changed?
16. Things need to be right, not simply better.
17. Has the County Council considered access through the allotments via Water Lane?
18. What will the new buildings contain? Will there be a sensory room, for example?
Staff
19. Would more teachers be needed since the new primary school would be larger than the existing school?
20. Will staff have to reapply for jobs?
21. Would they be retrained?
Governance and management
22. What would happen if there is a change of government?
23. Would this affect the funding strategy?
24. Parents of special needs children have less choice than for mainstream pupils. It is even more important, therefore, that things should be done properly.
25. What will be the role of the temporary governing body?
Other issues
26. Will there be other consultation meetings in the future?
27. Will the specialist services such as speech and language therapy and physiotherapy be maintained?
Parents were urged to respond to the consultations using the response sheet at the back of the consultation booklet and/or the Hantsweb link.