Proposal to establish a new Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND) provision at Sutton CofE VC primary school

Introduction

Cambridgeshire County Council intends to make a prescribed alteration to Sutton CofE VC Primary School, The Brook, Sutton, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB6 2PU with effect from 3rd September 2024 (subject to completion of alteration works to existing accommodation).

Background

Sutton CofE VC Primary School is a maintained voluntary controlled primary school currently offering 315 places for primary age children. The school is part of the Diocese of Ely. The school was judged Good by Ofsted at its most recent inspection in January 2023.

The Local Authority is implementing a county-wide SEND Strategy to address the deficit in demand for specialist support for children and young people with SEND and Education Health and Care Plan’s (EHCP).

Proposal

It is proposed to create a new SEND Enhanced Resource Base provision (ERB) at Sutton CofE VC Primary School. The ERB will cater for up to 8 primary age children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) where Autism is the primary need. The ERB may also offer short stay places for 2 children without an EHCP, but at risk of placement breakdown due to their needs.

Places at the ERB are in addition to the published admission number for the school and children’s places at the setting will be kept separate from the normal admissions process.

Establishing a new ERB provision at Sutton CofE VC Primary School for up to 10 primary age children with Autism will help the local authority meet the rising demand for enhanced provision within a mainstream school setting for Autistic children, either with an EHCP or at risk of placement breakdown due to their needs.

Implementation plan

As part of Cambridgeshire County Council’s decision-making process, a consultation on the proposed changes will run for a period of 5 weeks from Monday 8th April 2024 to Monday 6th May 2024 and will seek the views of all interested parties.

The Council will consider all comments received during the consultation period before reaching a decision on whether or not to proceed with the proposed change to establish the ERB. If the change is agreed, it is proposed that it would come into effect from 3rd September 2024 (subject to completion of alteration works to existing accommodation).

Have your say

Sutton CofE VC Primary School will host a consultation event on Friday 26 April 9:00am – 10:00am. For those interested but unable to attend the consultation event at the school a virtual consultation event will be held via Teams on Thursday 25 April 6:30pm – 7:30pm and will be attended by representatives from Cambridgeshire County Council and the school.

If you have any queries, would like more information or wish to make a comment on the proposal, please contact the Council via email school.consultations@cambridgeshire.gov.uk making sure to include ‘Response to proposal for Sutton CofE VC Primary School’ in the subject title.

Decision

The consultation for these proposals closed on Monday 6 May 2024. The Local Authority as the decision-maker for these proposals has approved them for implementation, with effect from 7 May 2024.