Plans for new Halton-based special school
ABIGAIL DONOGHUE
APPLICATIONS for the development of a Special Free School for pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs (SEMH) are to be discussed by Halton Council.
The school will be shared with St Helens, with plans to have the school located in Halton.
It will cater for a range of issues including, but not restricted to, a range of attachment disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with challenging behaviour, providing placements for pupils with an educational and health care plan, pupils who have a primary need of SEMH and pupils aged between 11-16 years old.
The proposed school also hopes to be able to deliver an outreach service after the second year of opening, to help pupils NEW YORK £1,095 FITTED WITH 4.2 KW GASFIRE STOVE PACKAGES FROM £1,895 FULLY FITTED 900 SUITE, SUITABLE FOR PRECAST FLUES from becoming excluded from mainstream schooling and add to the network of SEMH support.
In July 2018, the Department For Education (DfE) invited local authorities to apply to establish special or alternative provision free schools in their borough and encouraged them to seek partners in neighbouring authorities as part of the bid.
Any new school developed will be part of the Government’s free school programme, meaning the school will be an academy operated by a trust.
As part of this process, the local authority is responsible for providing the site free or on a low rent basis to the trust.
Local authorities are responsible for ensuring provision for children and young people with an education, health and care plan (EHC) is funded by their high needs budget.
However, in both Halton and St Helens there is insufficient provision for pupils with social, emo- NEW MARBLE ELECTRIC SUITE Choice of 4 full marble fireplaces ONLY £799 FULLY FITTED LARGE RANGE OF HANG ON THE WALL ELECTRIC FIRES. tional and mental health issues.
This means pupils in both areas have been placed in expensive independent provision.
Halton does not currently have a maintained SEMH school and St Helens has one which is boys only.
In 2017-18 Halton and St Helens placed 47 pupils in expensive independent schools and 43% were looked after children.
These placements are not only costly but mean many pupils are educated away from the area where they live.
They have to travel distances to school, which could impact on their ability to develop friends near their home. It also makes the transition back into mainstream education more difficult.
The proposal that Halton and St Helens bid for the opportunity to open a co-educational, special free school offering a quality education experience for 50 pupils with SEMH needs will be discussed today, Thursday.