The ‘Specialist Secondary School’ Education Gap in Bath and surrounding areas
The Gap in Specialist Provision for 'SENbetweeners'
From surveying our families we found there was a particular need for educational options for SEND children whose needs are not being recognised or met in mainstream. Such children are often unlikely to qualify for the existing oversubscribed specialist provision. Broadly these are children who present with a wide range of Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD). Many of these children are also neurodivergent with multiple diagnoses (presenting with ADHD, Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC), Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dyspraxia, Sensory Processing, Working Memory and Processing issues for example) which increase the complexity of need alongside their ability to access the curriculum. Many of the children have Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).
We identified that mainstream schools were struggling to meet the needs of this cohort of students. There is also a local lack of specialist provision for this group of children. Bath & NES does not have an Independent Specialist school. There is no Dyslexia specialist school and no provision exists for children with ADHD. Whilst there are a range of Autistic specialist schooling options locally (both mainstream and private), these are hugely oversubscribed.
We identified that mainstream schools were struggling to meet the needs of this cohort of students. There is also a local lack of specialist provision for this group of children. Bath & NES does not have an Independent Specialist school. There is no Dyslexia specialist school and no provision exists for children with ADHD. Whilst there are a range of Autistic specialist schooling options locally (both mainstream and private), these are hugely oversubscribed.
What are the current secondary options for SEN school children in Bath &NES?
Local Authority funded MainstreamThese settings are oversubscribed and underfunded, placing enormous strain on the existing provision. For many children the provision does not meet need. Many of our children have particular sensory issues and learning needs and it is not uncommon for Senco’s to state that it is ‘too difficult to meet need and/or provision as detailed within an EHCP in a mainstream secondary. These children often need to be taught in small class sizes by specialist teachers and some children require additional 1:1 support to help them secure the foundations of a KS2 curriculum before they can access the KS3/4 curriculum. Where a child's academic level is so far behind age related expectations, bullying and mental health issues become all too common.
Local Authority Funded Specialist SchoolsOur children do not meet thresholds for local authority special schools. These are hugely oversubscribed and our research suggests that provision is often for only the most severe cases, and the local authority would not consider this type of setting appropriate for our children’s needs. These schools cater for children with more profound needs or children who have been excluded from mainstream, or cannot attend mainstream due to their social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs. Local authorities do not fund Dyslexia/ADHD specialist secondary schools that could meet our children's needs.
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Independent Mainstream The mainstream private senior schools in Bath and surrounding area have a very limited number of SEN places. The provision is often considered unable to fully meet need and these schools are intensely over subscribed by SEN applicants. Additionally, children are often barred from entry if they have an EHCP. These schools can meet some needs due to the smaller class sizes, however many of our children would not pass entrance exams for selective independent schools and without specialist teaching, lessons and learning would likely be too fast paced. Also affordability is obviously an issue for many parents unless places are funded by the Local Authority as an EHCP named school.
South West Independent SpecialistThere are currently some special provision senior schools in the South West of England, but they are not easily accessible to families living in B&NES without long journeys. The distance of such special provision secondary schools is prohibitive for many living in this area. Additionally, many of the specialist senior schools located outside B&NES do not always offer a full breadth curriculum due to lack of facilities.
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RepreSENt have decided to focus our energies on establishing an new independent specialist provision.
Why the Initial Independent Sector Focus?
We chose initially to focus on the independent sector because we feel that there already are lots of organisations improving and challenging local local authority funded provision for SEND. One such organisation is the BANES Parent Carer Forum (PCF) who we work closely with. Therefore, rather than duplicating and diluting campaigning efforts, we decided to specifically focus on the lack of SEND provision in the independent sector. We believe that this gives our campaign the best chance of success, because the independent sector can be mobilised in shorter timescales than the local authority. Our intention is that children with EHCP’s, would also be able to access this provision with places funded by the local authority.
It is evident from our research, that there is a huge need to provide innovative education options for neurodivergent children with learning needs in Bath &NES. Our cohort of parents is building and is therefore able to support the growth of such a specialist SEN school in the Bath area. While more recently the local authority has gained funding for a new special school and additional resource bases, they have told us that demand will still outstrip supply and therefore, our campaign to work collaboratively with the local authority to provide an additional independent school is still an important endeavour.
Why the Initial Independent Sector Focus?
We chose initially to focus on the independent sector because we feel that there already are lots of organisations improving and challenging local local authority funded provision for SEND. One such organisation is the BANES Parent Carer Forum (PCF) who we work closely with. Therefore, rather than duplicating and diluting campaigning efforts, we decided to specifically focus on the lack of SEND provision in the independent sector. We believe that this gives our campaign the best chance of success, because the independent sector can be mobilised in shorter timescales than the local authority. Our intention is that children with EHCP’s, would also be able to access this provision with places funded by the local authority.
It is evident from our research, that there is a huge need to provide innovative education options for neurodivergent children with learning needs in Bath &NES. Our cohort of parents is building and is therefore able to support the growth of such a specialist SEN school in the Bath area. While more recently the local authority has gained funding for a new special school and additional resource bases, they have told us that demand will still outstrip supply and therefore, our campaign to work collaboratively with the local authority to provide an additional independent school is still an important endeavour.