Setting a direction for a city's SEND strategy
LOCATION: HULL | PROJECT AREA: STRATEGIC ADVISORY SERVICES | PROJECT STATUS: COMPLETED
CLIENT: ESTEEM & HULL CITY COUNCIL
Since 2017, Sewell Advisory has been working with Hull City Council to improve facilities for children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND).
The challenge
Hull City Council has a legal duty to provide enough school places for all pupils who live in the city, including those with special educational needs. Following an inspection of SEND across the city they found that, as in many regions, there are increasing numbers of children and young people with an Education Health and Care Plan. Sewell Advisory was asked to produce a SEND Sufficiency Strategy.
The solution
The strategy identified the need for a more varied selection of learning environments, so that SEND children get the additional support they need. It also set out plans to make sure there are enough specialist school places available to those pupils that need them.
Sewell Advisory gave recommendations on how the local authority can address the shortfall in SEND places.
We considered several factors which can provide solutions to address immediate requirements, and can ensure there are enough places to meet future demand.
We looked at utilisation of space, examining the assets currently available across the educational estate, and how well they’re being used. This identified underused rooms or buildings which can then be repurposed to accommodate SEND pupils.
We also looked at whether existing facilities are in the correct place to meet demand, and undertook modelling to forecast what the future demand might look like (in terms of overall places, places at each key stage and places by type of need) to make sure the future profile of the estate matched the projected needs.
Finally, we examined options around whether brand new schools needed to be built, or whether refurbishment and reconfiguration of existing facilities would be more appropriate taking into account the city and national direction regards delivering a wider range of more inclusive facilities in mainstream provision to work hand in hand with more specialist settings.
The result
Following the creation of the strategy, we have worked on multiple feasibility studies for SEND projects, many of which have now been constructed or are in progress. These include extensions and new dedicated SEND buildings for schools, and the new £8.2m Broadacre Primary School, which has the city’s first purpose-built space for children with autistic spectrum conditions.
Take a look at some of our other work
Find out how we created a SEND sufficiency strategy for Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council
