Contact: Louise Brierley, Area Director, Education and Inclusion North and East, Tel. 01252 814755, [email protected]

1 Summary

1.1 The hybrid Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) known as Basingstoke School Plus was established in 2004 to replace the Hawthorns Special School and the Education Centre (PRU), under new leadership. Basingstoke School Plus was placed in Special Measures following an Ofsted inspection in December 2006 and, under the leadership of the Acting Headteacher, who took up post just before the Ofsted inspection, is now making satisfactory progress. This has been partly achieved by separating the two secondary age populations of pupils. This paper outlines the plans to formally separate the two provisions into two PRUs and then begin a consultation process to `convert' the PRU on the Pack Lane site into a secondary special school for 63 pupils with statements of special educational needs (SEN) for behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD).

2 Recommendations

2.1 That the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education) agrees that the PRU known as Basingstoke School Plus should be divided into two PRUs from September 2008, one to serve the needs of permanently excluded pupils in Area 1 and the other for pupils with statements of SEN for behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD) in the north of the county.

2.2 That the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education) agrees to the instigation of a consultation process for `converting' the PRU for pupils with statements of special educational needs for behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD) into a special school for 63 pupils, in line with the County Strategy for BESD provision.

3 Strategic Overview of Provision for BESD pupils in Hampshire

3.1 The Special Educational Needs (SEN) Policy, the Behaviour Support Policy and the Inclusion Policy (all approved in 2005) are key elements of Hampshire County Council's policy framework for supporting the needs of all children and young people.

3.2

3.3 Key principles are:

· all children are valued equally and have the right to learn, achieve and participate fully in education regardless of their abilities and behaviours;

· all children are entitled to have access to a broad, balanced and relevant curriculum that is differentiated to meet individual learning styles, recognising personal strengths and needs;

· each child should receive an appropriate education in a mainstream school when reasonable adjustments can be made that take into consideration the needs of all learners;

· all children should be educated in schools as close to home as possible so as to maintain their place in the family and community;

· the diversity of children's needs should be recognised and met through a range of flexible, responsive and varied provision, allowing parents to express preferences.

3.3 There is a strong emphasis on early intervention and preventative work, valuing every child, effective multi-disciplinary / agency collaboration, participation, removing barriers to learning and ensuring quality of service provision in the context of delivering the five Every Child Matters outcomes. The strategy is to build the capacity of mainstream schools to provide effectively for the needs of pupils and to further develop the role of special schools to promote partnership working as well as making core provision for those with the most severe and complex needs. There is a clear role for special schools for children and young people with behaviour, emotional and social difficulties within this developing flexible continuum of provision.

4 The Establishment of Basingstoke School Plus

4.1 The hybrid PRU known as Basingstoke School Plus was established in 2004. Until then, there had existed a special school known as Hawthorns School and a Pupil Referral Unit known as the Ashwood Centre. Hawthorns School had been subject to Special Measures since 2002 and was making insufficient progress towards removal from this Ofsted category despite considerable support from the Local Authority and significant changes of leadership; there were three different headteachers at the school within 18 months. Outcomes for pupils at the Pupil Referral Unit were also a cause for concern in the Local Authority and the population of pupils across both sites had become mixed as a result of permanent exclusions from Hawthorns School. An innovative plan, approved by the DfES, led to the establishment of a new PRU with two separate provisions, one for each key stage under the leadership of a new headteacher. In July 2006, a management review of Basingstoke School Plus was conducted by the Local Authority and identified issues in the leadership of the provision. The Headteacher of Lakeside School became acting headteacher and, although improvements were quickly put in place there was insufficient time to bring about sufficient improvement before the Ofsted inspection in December 2006 and the provision was placed in Special Measures. Termly HMI monitoring visits since then have judged progress to be satisfactory.

5 Timescale

5.1 There are two stages to the process. First, the provision needs to be separated into two PRUs, one to serve the needs of the permanently excluded pupils and one to serve the needs of pupils with statements of SEN for BESD. This can be achieved by 1 September 2008 by an application to the DCSF. It is envisaged that the BESD provision on the Pack Lane site will retain the current DCSF number and a new number will be created for the Ashwood Centre. The provision for permanently excluded pupils would then be managed by a new Management Committee under the direction of the Inclusion Manager for North and East Hants.

5.2 The second stage of the process would require local consultations for the `conversion' of the PRU for BESD pupils with statements of SEN to a special school. Under the Education and Inspections Act 2006 this would require the establishment of a new school involving the `competition' process. This means that if consultation is approved, when the Executive Lead Member considers the outcomes of the local consultations in October 2008, he would also consider whether to approve notices to be published inviting proposers to bid to establish the school. However it will still be the County Council's responsibility to provide the school premises. Although the competition procedure would add to the timescale, it should still be possible to establish the new school (and close the Pack Lane PRU) in September 2010.

5.3 Until the process is complete, the Governing Body of Lakeside School has agreed in principle to their Headteacher continuing the role of Acting Headteacher for the BESD PRU. This ensures that the improvement strategy already in place will continue until the new school is opened.

6 The Ashwood Centre - Accommodation

6.1 The Ashwood Centre, where permanently excluded pupils are accommodated, is in inadequate accommodation. In January 2008, the Executive Lead Member gave his approval for a feasibility study to be carried out regarding the plans to move this provision to a number of different settings in Basingstoke. This strategy fits with the plans to establish an Education Improvement Partnership (EIP) in Basingstoke and Deane in the 2008/09 academic year. The outcomes of the feasibility study will be reported to the Executive Lead Member on 24 July 2008. In addition, there are significant improvements that need to be made to the Pack Lane site to provide adequate accommodation and a programme to address identified issues is in progress.

7 Legal implications

7.1 There are no legal implications for the separation of the provision into two PRUs. The proposal for the new school requires a formal consultation which might lead to a competition process.

8 Financial implications

8.1 The separation of the provision into two PRUs will be carried out within the overall Education Inclusion Service (EIS) budget. Any staff restructuring costs would fall on that budget.

8.2 The whole funding of the 56 place special school (Hawthorns) was moved into the EIS on the creation of Basingstoke School Plus. The transformation of the Pack Lane PRU into a special school will be much easier if its share of the existing funding is at the level that a secondary BESD special school of 56 places would receive under the relevant funding formula. An increase in the number of permanent secondary BESD places from 56 to 63 would cost £42,000 (at 2008/09) prices) from September 2008 (£73,000 in a full year) and this sum, as with similar place number changes, can be found from within the existing overall budgets for Special Educational Needs.

8.3 The 2008/09 capital programme includes £4m for the development of accommodation related to the Education Improvement Partnership (EIP) to allow the vacation of the Ashwood site, as well as improvements to the Pack Lane building. Health and safety improvements to the roof of the Pack Lane building costing £250,000 was approved on 17 July 2007 against resources in the 2007/2008 programme. Additional funding of £200,000 has been approved under officers delegated powers to improve the entrance, reception and administrative accommodation.

9 Personnel implications

9.1 The line management arrangements for the recently appointed Centre Manager of the Ashwood Centre will change from September 2008. She is currently line managed by the Acting Headteacher of Basingstoke School Plus and from September 2008 she will be line managed by the Inclusions Manager for the Education Inclusion Service (EIS). This brings the arrangements into line with all other Education Centres in the county.

9.2 The opening of a new school in September 2010 would require the formation of a temporary governing body who will appoint a new headteacher and then take responsibility for staffing in the new school.

10 Impact assessment

10.1 Race and equality impact assessment has been considered in the development of this report and no adverse impact has been identified.

11 Crime prevention issues

11.1 The conversion of the PRU to a special school has the potential to more effectively meet the needs of pupils with statements of special educational needs for BESD.

12 Views of the Local County Councillor

12.1 This paper has been discussed with the County Councillor.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background documents

The following documents discuss facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and have been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB: the list excludes

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

None