Pembrokeshire Schools

17. Regulated Alteration to increase the number of pupils for whom the school makes provision - Portfield School

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Regulated Alteration to increase the number of pupils for whom the school makes provision - Portfield School

Consultation Report

July 2022

Foreword

Pembrokeshire County Council is responsible for promoting high educational standards and for delivering efficient primary and secondary education. Having the right schools in the right places and ensuring that they are fit for the 21st century learner is a challenge facing councils across Wales.

Meeting this challenge involves reviewing the number and type of school the Council has in its area and assessing whether or not best use is being made of its resources and facilities.
The Council reviews its provision on the basis of:

Quality and future sustainability of educational provision
Sufficiency and accessibility of school places
The condition, suitability and standard of school buildings
Value for money

This Consultation Report sets out the findings of the statutory consultation undertaken with regard to the proposal to increase the number of pupils for whom Portfield School makes provision. All responses received during the consultation period are recorded, together with a summary of each of the issues raised by consultees. These are accompanied by a clarification or rejection (as appropriate) of any concerns.
Pembrokeshire County Council will consider this Consultation Report at its meeting on 14th July 2022.

Steven Richards-Downes

Director of Education

Introduction

Distribution of consultation report

Consultation Arrangements

Consultation Correspondence

Consultation Responses

Appendix one

Appendix two

Introduction

Pembrokeshire County Council has a statutory duty to secure sufficient and suitable school places in its area and to determine whether it is making the best use of the resources and facilities to deliver the opportunities that children deserve.

At its meeting on 14th October 2021, Pembrokeshire County Council considered a report which outlined a proposal to proceed with a re-development of the Portfield School campus as part of the Council’s 21st Century Schools Programme; consequently this would result in an increase in the number of pupils for whom the school makes provision. The decision of Council was as follows:

The subsequent statutory consultation was undertaken during the period 15th March to 29th April 2022.

This document represents the County Council’s responsibility as part of the School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013 to publish a consultation document. This document:

Summarises each of the issues raised by consultees;
Responds to these issues by means of clarification or rejection of the concerns with supporting reasons, and
Sets out Estyn’s view of the overall merits of the proposal.

That the Director for Education be authorised to undertake statutory consultation on a regulated alteration to Portfield School in order to increase the number of pupils for whom the school makes provision

Distribution of consultation report

This Consultation Report will be distributed to the following:

The Governing Bodies, Parents/Carers/Guardians and Staff of:

Portfield School
Ysgol y Preseli
Tenby VC School
Pembroke Dock Community School
Monkton Priory Community School
Ysgol Harri Tudur / Henry Tudor School
Gelliswick VC School
Johnston CP School
Fenton CP School
Waldo Williams CP School
Ysgol Glannau Gwaun
Ysgol Bro Gwaun

The following elected members:

Paul Davies MS – Constituency
Samuel Kurtz MS - Constituency
Cefin Campbell MS – Regional
Joyce Watson MS – Regional
Eluned Morgan MS – Regional
Jane Dodds MS - Regional
Stephen Crabb MP
Simon Hart MP
Cllr. Tim Evans
Cllr. Anji Tinley
Cllr. David Bryan
Cllr. Tom Tudor
Cllr. John Cole
Cllr. Andrew Edwards

Diocesan Directors of Education:

St David’s
Menevia

Others

Haverfordwest Town Council
Merlin’s Bridge Community Council
NEU
NASUWT
UCAC
ATL
NAHT
ASCLE
UNISON
UNITE
GMB
Hywel Dda Health Board
SNAP Cymru
National Autistic Society
Dyfed Powys Police and Crime Commissioner
The Welsh Ministers
Estyn
The Welsh Language Commissioner
Partneriaeth Addysg De Orllewin Cymru - Regional Education Consortium
Pembrokeshire College
Carmarthenshire County Council
Ceredigion County Council

In addition, this report will be distributed to all consultees who have specifically requested to be advised of its availability.

Consultation Arrangements

General Arrangements

The Consultation Document was published on 15th March 2022 and this date also represented the beginning of the statutory consultation period. The consultation period ended 29th April 2022,

The Consultation Document was distributed / links sent to all statutory consultees listed on Page 5 of that document.

The Consultation Document was made available on the County Council’s website at Have your say

Consultation Correspondence

Volume and Profile of Responses Received

A total of 15 responses were received via the online web link, general and 'pupil-friendly' response forms, emails and letters. The breakdown is as follows:

The profile of respondents is given below and reflects all descriptions given. This profile indicates respondents’ role as part of the consultation and may indicate multiple roles, e.g. parent, staff and local resident; as a result the total does not equal the total number of responses received.

Profile	Number
Pre-school parent	0
Parents	9
Staff	2
Governors	2
Residents	4
Portfield school	3

Consultation Responses

General Consensus

Where respondents chose to utilise the online or hard-copy form provided, they were asked to respond to a single question in order to establish which of the following statements best reflected their views. The findings are as follows:

Please indicate which of the following reflects your views on the proposal:

To make a regulated alteration to Portfield School in order to increase the number of pupils for whom the school makes provision

Statement	Number	%
I do not feel strongly one way or the other	0	0
I support the proposal	14	93
I do not support the proposal	1	7
Total	15	100

Comments made during consultation

A list of all comments received during the consultation period is attached as appendices; Appendix A1 for general comments, Appendix A2 for Estyn comments. In relation to the latter, Estyn’s overall conclusion of the proposal is as follows:

“The proposal is by Pembrokeshire County Council to make a regulated alteration to Portfield School to increase the number of pupils for whom the school makes provision.
Estyn considers that the proposal is likely to at least maintain the standard of education provision and outcomes for pupils”

Response to comments / observations made

The School Organisation Code requires that the consultation report provides a summary of each of the issues raised by consultees and that these are responded to by means of clarification, amendment to the proposal or rejection of the concerns. The following table outlines the Council’s response to the various comments made.

Comments/observations

Estyn
In considering the impact of the proposal on travel arrangements, the council refers to its school transport policy in relation to learners with additional learning needs and disabilities. It reasonably concludes that the proposal will not impact on transport provision, other than accommodating additional learners. The proposal does not address the additional travelling time that pupils from outside the normal school catchment may have.

Response

As outlined in the Consultation Document, Portfield School is the county’s only designated Special School. The proposal is not one to re-locate the current provision, merely one to expand the provision and to redevelop the Portfield School site. As the only Special School in Pembrokeshire, its ‘catchment’ is the whole of Pembrokeshire and the proposal will not result in additional travelling time, beyond what can be expected currently.

Comments/observations

Estyn
The council refer the high number of specialist professionals required to work within a specialist provision. However, no detail is provided on the recruitment of additional staffing required as a result of increasing capacity. The proposal would be further strengthened by more information relating to the specialist staffing of the increased capacity school.

Response

Class sizes generally in Special school range from between 8-15 learners within a class, depending on the type and complexity of need.
Welsh Office Circular 58/90 recommend the following Bands and staffing ratio’s.
PMLD (Teacher 1:5) (LSA 1:3)
Communication (1:6) (1:10)
BESD (1:7) (1:7)
SLD (1:8) (1:8)
MLD (1:10) (1:10)
Classes are usually supported by one qualified teacher and 2-3 classroom assistants, although this number can increase with some children often requiring ratio’s of 2:1 support.
Teachers in special school are generally paid UP3 plus an additional SEN allowance
Increassing the current provision by an additional four classes is likely to add approximately 10 non teaching staff and four full time teachers.
The additional capacity will also have an impact on ancillary and specialist health services, such as physio therapy, occupational thrapists and speech and language.

Comments/observations

Estyn
The council has suitably considered the likely impact of building on a ‘live education site and has stated that this will be managed in line with established project planning principles. However, there is no consideration on the impact of the building process on learners with additional learning needs who may be sensitive to noise, smells or change. The council has stated that young people will be able to participate in this consultation and as a result, this may be an opportunity to prepare the learners for any changes which may take place.

Response

It is recognised that a redevelopment of Portfield School presents additional challenges to those which might be expected at other mainstream schools. The Headteacher / school SLT will be valuable members of the Project Team and will be involved in all aspects of the project. It is anticipated that the Headteacher will appropriately involve learners in this process and consultants and contractors will be required to respond to any concerns raised.

Comments/observations

General
Whether Portfield can make use of the Haverfordwest High VC site once vacated

Response

The proposal will capitalise on the adjacency of Portfield School with other buildings on the site. The ‘H’ block which is currently used by Haverfordwest High VC School will become a Portfield School building. Simiarly, it is proposed to extend the current Holly House in order to provide much needed residential capacity for Portfield pupils.

Comments/observations

General
More fit for purpose secondary LRC units in Haverfordwest schools or build a new fit for purpose secondary SEN school in Haverfordwest

Response

Under the ALN Code, there is a general duty to favour mainstream provison. LRC classes provide this opportunity for learners with identified ALN to be taught at a mainstream school. The Council has recently expanded its secondary LRC provision by opening a new class in Greenhill School Tenby. We now have 3 sites to provide the geographical spread to meet the needs of learners across the County.
A separate SEN Secondary School is not a preferable option. Split sites do not always work well for learners or staff. It increases management costs and provides unnecessary transitions for learners who already struggle to adapt to change.

Comments/observations

General
Whilst this is very much needed. The provision by the school also needs to be extended for all holistic needs provided. Ie Holly house needs extending to provide more spaces. There needs to be more around creating an environment around the school, almost to build a little community. Ie practice shops, practie home living accomodation, specific sensory areas, more lifeguards, more holistic support workers such as music and dance therapies. More numbers is great, but the resourses around the children also need to grow.

Response

Holly House is included in the Council’s proposal. The Portfield site already accommodates an adult learning

Day Centre and Norman Industries, which provides training and work opportunities for disabled people and those with learning difficulties. Social care have a respite facility on site which enables learner’s short breaks and in some cases emergency accomoodation.
There is a need to prevent unnecessary cliff edges for young people, to support transitions from education to training and work and supported accommodation towards independence.
The new curriculum for specialist schools needs to be diverse and recognise the unique challenges to provide the life skills and non academic elements of the curriculum to develop confident individuals who will be equipped with the skills and competencies to enable students to contribute economically within their Community. Many new Special schools will offer this breadth of provision, teaching students the life skills to cook and care for themselves independently and provide opportunities to learn skills such as handling money and finding supported employment and training opportunities.
More complex learners also require adapted environments and specialist areas such as rebound therapy, sensory rooms, hydro therapy and a life skills department.

Appendix one

Portfield School:

Regulated alteration to increase the number of pupils for whom the school makes provision

Ref 2:

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(comments redacted for the purposes of this document - respondent does not want their comments to be made publically available)