Consultation Information
Significant Change proposal completed by Brookfields School (Shaw Education Trust) with the support of Halton Borough Council.
For Brookfields School to extend their provision permanently by locating additional classes off-site as part of the Hallwood Park School complex. This would require an increase of Number on Roll (NOR) to 160.
Why is this provision required?
o Due to the exceptionally high level of need for Early Years / primary places for children with severe and complex needs within Halton that cannot be met within the current school provision available. This need is forecast to continue growing each year.
o Brookfields main building is currently full with all usable classroom spaces utilised. The school site is landlocked meaning that there is no space to build any additional classrooms.
o In line with Halton SEND Strategic Plan, children’s needs should be met within the area in which they live at an outstanding school. There is no wish by families or by Halton local authority to send children as young as 4 years old out of borough; this leads to children / families becoming detached from their local community and support networks and means significantly long travel times for very young children.
o There is a cost to the environment of children travelling greater distances and often in single occupancy vehicles.
o There is a high cost to Halton to send pupils out of borough. This high cost (including school placement and transport) would significantly impact upon Halton’s High Needs Budget which is already under pressure and this has an impact on all Halton children and young people with additional needs. A typical placement at Brookfields costs for the most complex children is approximately £25,000 compared to a cost which ranges from £60,000 to £100,000 plus travel for an independent or out of borough school placement. This spend impacts on the high need’s funds available for all children across Halton with SEND.
Current status
102 children placed in Brookfields School (main building). When the school was re-designated as a Primary School in 2009, the school catered for 73 pupils. We are funded by the ESFA for 92 pupils (PAN).
20 children are placed in satellite classes within The Grange School, Runcorn (Part of the Wade Deacon Multi Academy Trust). This temporary arrangement commenced September 2019. The development of the 2 satellite classes at The Grange has been a project to be celebrated and a valuable example of collaborative, inclusive practice between 2 schools (a special school and a mainstream through age provision), 2 MATS and Halton Borough Council. However this was only ever a temporary solution, and this space must be vacated at the end of this academic year. Brookfields School and Halton Borough Council have been seeking a permanent solution for this pressure on numbers for a considerable amount of time.
Hallwood Park School are joining the Shaw Education Trust which Brookfields have been part of for 6 years. There is significant space that is not used on this site which would be utilised through this proposal. From what we have learnt from our experience of operating satellite provision there are several real positives from co-locating with a mainstream setting.
- True partnership working as staff at all levels have supported each other in the development of the provision
- The development of inclusive practice as children have had the benefit of a range of experiences (from both schools)
- School-to-school support as staff within the mainstream have benefitted from the specialist knowledge and expertise of Brookfields Staff being based on site
- The development of a learning space that is beneficial to all pupils
What will Brookfields additional provision being based at Hallwood Park be able to offer:
- Over time the development of up to 6 additional class spaces (60 pupils) permanently for Brookfields children making use of unused and vacant space
- Extensive outdoor space to provide high quality play areas and learning outside the classroom opportunities.
- Space for specialist facilities such as a sensory light room
- A replication of how the classrooms and school structure operate at the Widnes site including access to therapies.
- Access for children at both sites to benefit from each setting’s facilities (swimming pool, extensive outdoor spaces etc) through the use of minibuses.
- The two schools will share the site but will operate individually as 2 schools. Brookfields Classes will be under the leadership of Brookfields School and Hallwood Park Primary School will remain a separate entity running as a mainstream Primary School.
If no provision were to be developed from September 2024 the impact would be as follows:
We have 122 pupils for September 2024 at this point. However all these children would have to be located at Brookfields School main site. This would cause major overcrowding of classrooms with large class sizes and impossible pressure on facilities for pupils, staff, and families. This would have a significant detrimental effect upon all aspects of the school including access to facilities.
In addition this would mean that we would not be able to offer any additional places for reception age / primary age pupils, thus meaning that there would be a high number of pupils without a school setting in Halton.
Brookfields pupil numbers information – based on current numbers.
2023-2024 ~ Number on roll = 122 (including 20 in off-site satellite classes at The Grange)
The number of leavers equates to the number of places we can offer each year.
|
|
Number of Y6 leavers
|
|
2023- 2024 |
12 |
|
2024- 2025 |
21 |
|
2025 – 2026 |
22 |
|
2026 - 2027 |
23 |
|
2027 - 2028 |
14 |
Pupil number history over 5 years ~ evidence of growth directly related to increase in demand for places
(This number does not reflect the high number of requests that were declined due to the school being over capacity).
|
Academic Year |
Number on roll |
|
2023 – 2024 |
122 |
|
2022 – 2023 |
119 |
|
2021 – 2022 |
112 |
|
2020 – 2021 |
109 |
|
2019- 2020 |
100 |
If you would like to make a response to the consultation, please follow this link https://forms.office.com/e/YhdeHp0CxA