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Northway Special School expansion consultation

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Consultation has concluded

Overview and Background

The council’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Strategy (2021 – 2024) sets out ambitious and realistic objectives to ensure Barnet’s provision is the first choice for children and young people with high needs and their families.

A priority of the SEND Strategy is the need to ensure that there is sufficient high-quality provision in Barnet for children with special educational needs who need access to specialist educational provision. The local authority is also committed to ensuring that children and young people with SEND benefit from inclusion in their local community by ensuring that they can access

Overview and Background

The council’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Strategy (2021 – 2024) sets out ambitious and realistic objectives to ensure Barnet’s provision is the first choice for children and young people with high needs and their families.

A priority of the SEND Strategy is the need to ensure that there is sufficient high-quality provision in Barnet for children with special educational needs who need access to specialist educational provision. The local authority is also committed to ensuring that children and young people with SEND benefit from inclusion in their local community by ensuring that they can access the right provision as close to their home as possible, and thus reducing the need for them to have to travel long distances to access out of borough or independent provision due to a lack of suitable in-borough provision.

The SEND Strategy also recognises that children with complex learning needs are increasing in numbers and will require specialist intervention supported in specialist provision, including special schools.

Proposal

As part of our commitment to SEND Strategy and our commitment to ensure Barnet has provision to ensure the first choice for children and young people with high needs and their families, we are proposing to expand Northway Special School.

The significant rise in the number of children and young people with an EHCP that require a place at a Special School has prompted the need to expand Northway special school through the creation of an annex on the Grasvenor Infant School site. This will enable Northway special school to be an all through school for children aged from 5 to 18 years with complex special educational needs, including learning difficulties, Autism and associated social, emotional and mental health needs. If the proposals are agreed, 44 places would be available on the Grasvenor site from September 2022, rising to 72 places in subsequent years.

The school have already conducted an informal consultation on the expansion of Northway Special School which took place from 7 March 2022 to 25 March 2022, and the council is now formally consulting on the proposal.

Please see the complete proposal in our consultation document.


Give us your views

We want to hear from all our residents as our schools service the community and have an influence on the surrounding areas. This consultation is an opportunity for you to give your views and contribute to the decision-making process of the council.

You can respond to this consultation by completing our online questionnaire here.

If you would like to request a paper questionnaire or another format please:

  • email nick.burr@barnet.gov.uk or telephone 020 8359 7288
  • alternatively you can write to us at Nick Burr, Barnet Education and Learning Service, London Borough of Barnet, 2 Bristol Avenue, Colindale, NW9 4EW.

If you would like someone to help you complete the questionnaire or need more information, please contact us using one of the above methods.

What happens next?

Subject to the outcome of the consultation, the council intends to make a final decision on the proposal in early July.

Consultation has concluded

  • We asked, you said, we did

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    We asked

    We asked for your views on our proposals to expand Northway Special School through the creation of an annex on the Grasvenor Infant School site.


    You said

    We received 47 responses to the online questionnaire. 70% of respondents said they agree with the proposal to expand Northway School on the basis that the expansion of specialist placements:

    • acknowledged the need for additional SEND specialist places in Barnet and the benefit to Barnet children
    • acknowledged the need for additional secondary specialist places in Barnet
    • recognised the expertise of the specialist staff at Northway school
    • recognised the benefit to the borough of retaining Grasvenor site as a school.


    30% said they disagree with the proposal and some of the following factors were cited as reasons why they had concerns:

    • concerns about the increased traffic to the school site
    • concerns about the need for more experience of teaching secondary age pupils
    • concerns about having secondary aged pupils in a school alongside a primary school
    • concerns for the Key Stage 1 children already attending Northway School who will have to move to a different site.


    We did

    We decided to proceed with the expansion of Northway School and are responding to the feedback given as follows:


    • concerns about the increased traffic to the school site
    • our response: the transport department is working closely with the school to ensure that the number of additional vehicles going to the site will be kept to a minimum


    • concerns about the need for more experience of teaching secondary age pupils
    • our response: Northway School is employing teaching staff with experience of teaching secondary age pupils


    • concerns about having secondary aged pupils in a school alongside a primary school
    • our response: whilst acknowledging this concern, there are a number of schools in Barnet that already admit both primary and secondary aged pupils


    • concerns for the Key Stage 1 children already attending Northway school who will have to move to a different site.
    • our response: whilst acknowledging this concern, the transition for children moving to the new school site was well prepared for. Northway staff reported at the start of term that the children had settled well into their new environment and were enjoying being in school


    The expansion was completed by the start of the autumn term 2022. We emailed parents of children at Northway School on 6 September 2022 to reassure them that the building works were completed, and the school was fully operational for the start of term.