cid:image002.png@01D1A14D.7E0E86D0

 

 

 

Consultation Document

 

 

School organisation proposals to temporarily remove residential provision at Welburn  Hall Special School for the academic years 2023-24 and 2024-25

 

 

 

 

 


 Welburn  Hall School

December 2022

This paper sets out school organisation proposals by North Yorkshire County Council to temporarily remove residential provision at Welburn  Hall School, Welburn, Kirbymoorside

It follows a review of provision and consultation carried out under the Children and Families Act 2014.

This paper gives the background to the proposals. There will be virtual (on-line) public meetings on Tuesday January 10th, 2023, and Wednesday January 18th, 2023 at 6 pm  via Microsoft Teams. If you wish to be part of this virtual meeting could you please let us know by emailing schoolorganisation@northyorks.gov.uk  and joining instructions will be provided.

 

Background

North Yorkshire County Council wants all children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in North Yorkshire:

The County Council has a statutory responsibility under the Children and Families Act 2014 to keep its special educational provision under review, to ensure sufficiency in placements to meet the needs of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Under the same act, the County Council also has responsibility for ensuring that the needs of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) are suitably assessed and that needs are met.

 

We have reviewed recently the residential provision at Welburn Hall and following consultation had determined that there was an ongoing need for residential provision, but that access to that provision would in future be via more specific criteria

However, recent technical assessments have identified significant structural challenges in the main House building, which provides the residential accommodation, catering facilities and some teaching and learning space. These challenges relate to the heating and drainage systems at the school. The local authority is planning on the basis that a programme of urgent works to address buildings failure will need to be put in place from Summer 2023, with the unfortunate consequence that the main house building will be out of operation for an expected period of two academic years. We would want to emphasise that our assessment is that the school buildings remain a safe environment for young people to both be educated and reside in the interim.

In the light of the latest technical assessments, the implications for the main house and our concern that we provide clarity at the earliest opportunity to families and school staff, we are consulting at this stage on the potential temporary removal of residential provision at Welburn Hall school.

We appreciate that this is an unexpected development want to emphasise that it is a response to an emergency scenario. We will work closely with colleagues at Welburn Hall school as well as young people and their families to ensure any impact on those accessing the provision is minimised.

Day places will continue to be provided at Welburn Hall in a separate building while these urgent reactive maintenance works are being carried out to the main house.

 

The school organisation proposals

The County Council is now consulting specifically on the school organisation proposals required to:

 Remove residential provision at Welburn  Hall School from 1 September 2023, on a temporary basis for a two year period.

Your views on these school organisation proposals are welcomed.

What is this consultation about?

This consultation is about our proposal to temporarily pause the residential offer at Welburn  Hall School. 

Under these proposals, residential provision would be unavailable at Welburn Hall school for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic years - Why do we need to pause  the residential offer at Welburn  Hall School?

.

As discussed above, this proposal is a direct consequence of the significant structural failings we have identified in the heating and drainage systems at the school. These impact most significantly upon the House building. Furthermore, the proposals are solely a response to these building challenges – without these challenges, residential provision would be continuing to operate at the school.

Given that we are currently working on the basis of undertaking an urgent reactive maintenance programme over a period of two academic years, we are specifically proposing to pause the residential offer for two years

Whilst the vast majority of young people currently accessing residential provision at Welburn Hall will naturally leave in July 2023 due to their age, we recognise that a small number of pupils will have been expecting to access residential provision until July 2024. The council’s SEN Case Work Team have made contact with those families affected and will be providing support to assess all available provision options to continue to meet their assessed needs.

 

 

What Happens Next?

Your views about these proposals are welcomed. You can either complete and return the attached response sheet, or submit an online response.

Paper responses should be returned to North Yorkshire County Council at the address below:

FREEPOST RTKE-RKAY-CUJS

Welburn Hall Strategic Planning

North Yorkshire County Council

County Hall

NORTHALLERTON

DL7 8AE

 

Online responses may be submitted by following this link:

https://consult.northyorks.gov.uk/snapwebhost/s.asp?k=164914933309

 

The closing date for responses is 31st January 2023

 

All responses to the consultation received by this date will be considered by the County Council’s Executive committee on 14 February  2023.

If the County Council’s Executive decides to proceed, then statutory proposals would be published on 22 February, 2023 on the County Council’s website and statutory notices placed in the local press and on the school gates. These statutory proposals would provide a further four weeks for representations to be made. A final decision would then be made in November by the County Council’s Executive (or by the Executive Member for Education, Learning and Skills, if there are no objections to statutory proposals)

Anticipated key dates

All dates are subject to approvals at each stage.

Consultation opens

3 January 2023

Public meetings

10 and 18 January 2023

Consultation closes

31 January 2023

County Council’s Executive considers consultation response

14th February 2023

Statutory Proposals published (4 weeks for representations to be made)

22 February – 22 March 2023

Final decision by County Council’s Executive (or the Executive Member for Education and Skills, if there are no objections to the statutory proposals)

18 April 2023

Implementation

From 1 September 2023:

 

·          


 

BLANK PAGE


 

 

 

 

Welburn Hall School

 

Remove residential provision at Welburn  Hall School from 1 September 2023, on a temporary basis for a two year period.

 

Observations and/or suggestions: 

Please do not disclose any personal data in your response

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interest/Status  .................................................................................................................  

e.g. Parent/Governor/Teacher/Community

Name of School  ..............................................................................................................

 

Signed   .............................................................................................................................

Date:      .............................................................................................................................

Name (Block Capitals)  ...................................................................................................

Address:                                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                                             

Postcode:                                                                                                                           

To help us assess whether we have provided clear information, please let us know whether you found this consultation easy to understand?   YES/NO

Do you have any suggestions for improvement?

……………………………………………………………………………………..……………

Under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, responses to the consultation may be published on the County Council’s website where it may be accessed by members of the public. Your personal details will not be published.

Please send this response sheet to the following “FREEPOST” address. You do not need to use a postage stamp.

FREEPOST RTKE-RKAY-CUJS

Welburn  Hall

Strategic Planning

North Yorkshire County Council

County Hall

NORTHALLERTON

DL7 8AE

Or go to:

https://consult.northyorks.gov.uk/snapwebhost/s.asp?k=164914933309

and submit your response there

To be received by no later than 31st January, 2023We are collecting this information for the purpose of gathering views on the proposal. Your personal data will not be published or passed to any other organisation unless a legal obligation compels us to do so. We may contact you to discuss your views further. For more information about how your personal data is handled at North Yorkshire County Council please visit: www.northyorks.gov.uk/privacy-notices