Parents urged to give views on special needs education

6:50am Monday 15th March 2010

By Chris Wickham

There are less than three weeks left for parents to give their views on plans for secondary education for children with special needs.

Richmond Council kicked off the consultation – which looks at provision in the borough’s eight secondary schools – last month and Councillor Malcolm Eady, Richmond Council cabinet member for education and children’s services, urged parents to have their say before March 31.

He said the consultation aimed to give parents more choice and reduce those leaving the borough for placements.

He added pupils’ needs had changed with fewer diagnosed with moderate and severe learning difficulties, but a rise in the number with autistic spectrum conditions and speech and language difficulties.

However, Coun Eady said controversial plans to form an alliance with a single governing body and an executive head overseeing the borough’s two special schools – Strathmore and Clarendon – was no longer under consideration.

Coun Eady added: “We would like to see young people with special educational needs (SEN) having their needs met in mainstream schools whenever suitable, and we will be enhancing specialist teaching arrangements to do this.

“This will provide parents more choice alongside the borough’s two highly-rated special schools which are a key part of our SEN provision.

“Stability for the present students is a top priority and many of the proposals will not mean significant changes for individual children.

He added the special school merger plan was “off” and a new consultation would be published this summer – with the aim being to find cash to upgrade the buildings at Strathmore.

The plans – published at richmond.gov.uk/sen_consultation – reveal a re-design of Richmond House, the specialist unit at Hampton Community College, in September and a transfer of responsibility for the Gateway Unit – based at Whitton School – from the new Twickenham Academy to Clarendon School.

The plans also include making places available at each of the eight secondary schools by September 2011, focusing on different specialisms.

Anyone wanting to find out more can attend drop-in sessions at 42 York Street, Twickenham, between 10am and 5pm on Wednesday, and at Regal House, Twickenham, from 5pm to 8.30pm on March 23.