Proposal to open a Communication and Interaction (Autism) Unit at Overstone Combined School, Wing

Overview

We want to hear your views on our proposal to open a Communication and Interaction (Autism) Unit at Overstone Combined School, Wing.

The Unit would have 12 places for children with Communication and Interaction (Autism) needs.

The 12 places would be in addition to the school's mainstream places.

If agreed the Unit would open in September 2025.

Increasing need for Communication and Interaction (Autism) support Increasing need for Communication and Interaction (Autism) support

Over the last five years in Buckinghamshire there has been a:

64% (2577 pupils) increase in the number of pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabled (SEND) with an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP)
82% (1,642 pupils) increase in children and young people with communication and interaction needs – this is one of the areas of need that has been rising most

Over the next five years in Buckinghamshire we are expecting:

a further 32% increase in the number of EHCP pupils
an increase of 1080 pupils or 30% of children and young people with communication and interaction needs

Our SEND Education Sufficiency Strategy identified the need for a 12 place primary age inclusion unit for children with Communication and Interaction (Autism) needs at a mainstream school in Aylesbury Vale.

We are proposing to open a Communication and Interaction (Autism) Unit at Overstone Combined School, Wing to meet this need.

What this proposal would mean for pupils and staff at the school What this proposal would mean for pupils and staff at the school

A key aim of the Unit is to allow pupils to access a mainstream curriculum, whilst accessing specific specialist support. Pupils attending the Unit would:

spend most of their time based within the Unit (self-contained with its own outside play area)
be able to join in with parts of the school day, where appropriate

Specialist teachers would be employed to manage the new Unit:

staffed by two teachers and learning support assistants
additional professionals to support pupils – including a speech and language therapist, occupational therapist and play therapist
further professionals would be employed depending on the needs of the children
all staff in the Unit would be trained to support pupils who have experienced trauma and have insecure attachments

All staff at Overstone Combined School would be trained to support children with Communication and Interaction needs – providing benefits to all children at the school.

How the Unit would be funded How the Unit would be funded

The Unit would be located within the existing school building using space which is surplus to requirements given the drop in pupil numbers. The building will be adapted to make it suitable for a SEND Unit.

We would cover the building costs using government funding for providing / expanding SEND provision across the county. Overstone Combined School would receive additional revenue grant funding to run the Unit.

To ensure there would be space for the new Unit, the school will be consulting separately on reducing its Planned Admission Number (PAN). Overstone Combined School currently has a PAN of 42 pupils in each year group. However, pupil numbers are well below these levels. The school currently has no more than 32 pupils in any year group and demand for school places is not expected to rise. The school is proposing to have a PAN of 30 in Key Stage One and 32 in Key Stage Two.

Events to find out more

We are hosting two events to find out more about the proposals, including an opportunity to view the proposed building plans for the Unit:

Presentation for parents / carers – Monday 14 October 2024 at 5pm
- at Overstone Combined School, Church St, Wing, Leighton Buzzard LU7 0NY
- Overstone Combined School will provide childcare for current pupils if their parents / carers want to attend this meeting - please contact the school if you need a place
Public drop in event – Monday 14 October 2024 from 6pm to 7pm
- at Overstone Combined School, Church St, Wing, Leighton Buzzard LU7 0NY

How to have your say

You can tell us your views in one of the following ways:

complete the online survey using the link at the end of the page
complete, and return, a printed version of the survey (PDF 0.25MB)
email us at overstoneschoolconsultation@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

If you have any questions about this consultation, or require this information in another format or language, please email us at overstoneschoolconsultation@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

Please tell us your views by 11:59pm on Sunday 10 November 2024.

What happens next

With Overstone Combined School Governing Board, we will consider all the responses we receive and take a decision on whether to proceed to the next stage and publish a statutory notice to open a Communication and Interaction (Autism) Unit.

Statutory notice and representation period

If a statutory notice is published, there is a four week period in which you can make any further representations. If the decision is taken to proceed, we would expect the representation period to run from 8 January to 29 January 2025.

Final decision

The Leader of Buckinghamshire Council, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Education and Children’s Services, would take into consideration any representations made before making a decision on the final outcome. We would expect this decision to be made in March 2025.

If the proposal to open a Communication and Interaction (Autism) Unit is agreed, building works would start in April 2025.

The new Unit would then open in September 2025. Pupil numbers would be gradually increased each year – until reaching the total capacity of 12.

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If you have questions about data and privacy, please email us on dataprotection@buckinghamshire.gov.uk. Or write to our Data Protection Officer at Buckinghamshire Council, The Gateway, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury, HP19 8FF.

Areas

Wing and Ivinghoe

Interests

Health
Schools & education
Children & young people
Mental health and wellbeing

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