{{ root_page.title }}
Post-16 SEND campus equality impact assessment
Service area: Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
Name of service/policy/project being assessed: Post-16 SEND Campus Project
Officer leading on assessment: Isabelle Neumand, Policy and Project Officer
Other officers involved: Henry Kilpin, Head of Strategy and Programmes and Matthew Paul, Associate Director, School Place Planning
1. Briefly describe the service/policy/project:
Achieving for Children (AfC) and Kingston Council have been working with the Orchard Hill College and Academy Trust (OHCAT) for some while on an ambitious proposal, which OHCAT originally put forward, to relocate some of the sixth form provision of their three special schools in the borough plus Orchard Hill College, New Malden, onto one new site, to provide one post-16 SEND campus. This is designed to provide a highly attractive local ‘one-stop shop’ post-16 SEND alternative to out-borough, independent further education colleges that invariably have glossy buildings in extensive grounds, but which do not support the young people to develop independence skills within their home community. Equally as important, it would also create additional post-16 and pre-16 places across three of the four local settings.
The proposal is based on a similar model which OHCAT developed with Hillingdon Council, to create Wyvern House in Uxbridge. LocatEd, the Department for Education’s property organisation, have been assisting AfC with the search for a suitable site for the campus, which is most likely to be a privately-owned one which could be rented on a long-lease arrangement.
Ofsted rate Bedelsford, Dysart and Orchard Hill College as ‘outstanding’ and St Philip’s as ‘good’, and each of them is heavily oversubscribed.
The principal quantifiable benefits of the proposal would be as follows:
- The creation of 15 additional sixth form places at each of Dysart and St Philip’s, which will in turn enable 15 much-needed additional pre-16 places on each of their sites;
- The creation of an additional 20 places at Orchard Hill College;
- Large annual placement-cost mitigation by keeping young people local and not in independent schools/colleges, with a positive impact on Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) expenditure; and
- Large annual home-to-school transport savings.
It is also proposed to involve Kingston College, so as to enable ‘blended provision’ for young people who might benefit from access to mainstream teaching as well as more specialist expertise.
Alongside the educational provision, it is proposed to create additional some supported living accommodation in the borough, affording enhanced independence for up to six young people who would attend the campus, because at present, young people from the borough are being placed in supported accommodation in other local authority areas.
The proposal also has congruence with work being carried out in Adults’ Social Care to review and enlarge the local offer for adults with learning disabilities, as the campus’s facilities could be used by community organisations outside education hours and during holiday periods.
2. What sources of information have been used in the preparation of this equality assessment? (e.g. national research, JSNA, user feedback)
Outline Business Case for Post-16 SEND campus
- Projected numbers of Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs)
- Projected number of young people who would benefit from the project
- Projected number of young people placed at St Philip’s
- Additional places created by the project
Kingston upon Thames SEND Futures Plan 2020-21 to 2025-2026
- EHCP data
3. Analysis of impact
Age
Impact: positive
Data and analysis:
Data – Number of young people who would benefit from the project
AfC undertakes some forecasting, using current numbers coming through local schools, both special and mainstream; in this instance of those children and young people (CYP) who would be entering Year 12 or Year 14 in the next few years. In the context of the 16-25 campus proposal, here are the numbers of CYP who have been identified as being likely to benefit from a Year 12 or Year 14 placement at Orchard Hill College:
| Current year group | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 |
| Leaving Year 11 in | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 |
| Bedelsford | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 8 |
| Dysart | 0 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 |
| Strathmore | 1 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 3 |
| Other | 5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 8 | 17 | 19 | 15 | 21 | 16 |
These numbers justify the expansion of numbers at Orchard Hill College that would be part of the campus. The additional pre-16 places at Dysart would be for Years 7 to 11, as a natural destination for the 30 children attending the school’s two primary satellites which opened in 2019 and 2021. Despite its recent expansion St Philip’s is regularly oversubscribed and more extra places are needed. This table shows the number and destinations of Kingston CYP who could have been placed at St Philip’s in the last three years, had sufficient places been available.
| Moderate Learning Difficulty (MLD) | ||||
| Setting type | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | Total |
| Malden Oaks | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Other | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Further education | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Not in further education, employment or training | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Independent special school | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Non-maintained special school | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Clarendon | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| Strathmore | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 5 | 3 | 6 | 14 |
| Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) | ||||
| Setting type | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | Total |
| Malden Oaks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Further education | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Not in further education, employment or training | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Independent special school | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| Non-maintained special school | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Clarendon | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Strathmore | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other SFSS | 2 | 6 | 1 | 9 |
| Total | 12 | 12 | 4 | 28 |
The additional places to be created can be summarised as follows:
| Current | Additional | Total | |
| Bedelsford sixth form | 11 | 0 | 11 |
| Dysart pre-16 | 150 | 15 | 165 |
| Dysart sixth form | 14 | 15 | 29 |
| St Philip’s pre-16 | 167 | 15 | 182 |
| St Philip’s sixth form | 16 | 15 | 31 |
| Orchard Hill College | 55 | 20 | 75 |
| Total | 413 | 80 | 493 |
Impact
The project is considered extremely relevant to age, as it relates to children and young people.
The data shows that if the project were to go ahead, additional post-16 and pre-16 places would be created for children and young people with SEND in Kingston.
Disability
Impact: positive
Data and analysis:
Data
Approximately 4,000 children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities live in or educated in the borough. About 1,400 (October 2020) children and young people resident in Kingston have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) to describe the support that has been agreed is needed for their needs to be met. About 8% of these children and young people with EHCPs also receive support from children’s social care (a total of 108 in October 2020, 40 being looked after, 17 having a child protection plan and 56 having a child in need plan). Over 12% of children and young people at Kingston’s primary and secondary schools have SEND (8% of girls and 17% of boys), with about 3.5% having an EHCP, and about 9% are registered for SEND Support. A disproportionately high number of young people supported by our Youth Offending Service have SEND.
The number of CYP with SEND who live in the borough and have EHCPs has, despite strenuous efforts to manage and reduce demand, grown considerably in recent years; between January 2018 and July 2021, the number of Kingston-resident CYP with EHCPs increased by 40.8%, from 1,042 to 1,467. Those 1,467 are currently placed as follows:
| Provision type | Number | % of total |
| Early Years setting | 17 | 1% |
| State-funded mainstream school | 494 | 34% |
| State-funded special school | 354 | 24% |
| Specialist resource provision (in a state-funded school) | 161 | 11% |
| Further education college | 141 | 10% |
| Independent or non-maintained special school | 177 | 12% |
| Independent post-16 college | 28 | 2% |
| Awaiting placement, NEET, or in vocational training | 95 | 6% |
| Total EHCPs | 1467 |
Forecast numbers of EHCPs in Kingston
| Year | Minimum | Median | Maximum |
| 2022 | 1352 | 1443 | 1562 |
| 2023 | 1427 | 1523 | 1644 |
| 2024 | 1444 | 1589 | 1713 |
| 2025 | 1457 | 1640 | 1768 |
| 2026 | 1508 | 1679 | 1824 |
| 2027 | 1530 | 1716 | 1869 |
| 2028 | 1564 | 1743 | 1914 |
| 2029 | 1600 | 1765 | 1959 |
Impact
The project is considered extremely relevant to disability, given that it relates to children and young people with SEND. Projections show that the number of children and young people with an EHCP in Kingston has grown and will keep growing, justifying more SEND provision. There is therefore a clear need for additional state-funded specialist places, both post-16 and pre-16, within the borough so as to further reduce the proportion of Kingston’s children and young people who attend independent settings or state-funded settings outside the borough.
Gender (sex)
Impact: none
Data and analysis:
The proposals are considered to be of low relevance to gender (sex).
It should be noted however, that both national and local data shows that males are more likely to have an EHCP.
Gender reassignment
Impact: none
Data and analysis:
The proposals are considered to be of low relevance to gender reassignment.
Marriage and civil partnership
Impact: none
Data and analysis:
The proposals are considered to be of low relevance to marriage and civil partnership.
Pregnancy and maternity
Impact: none
Data and analysis:
The proposals are considered to be of low relevance to pregnancy and maternity.
Race/ethnicity
Impact: none
Data and analysis:
The proposals are considered to be of low relevance to race/ethnicity.
It should be noted however, that previous analysis in relation to race/ ethnicity and SEND has identified a complex relationship with many other variables such as socio-economic status, language and cultural barriers influencing children’s outcomes (both nationally and locally), and the importance of recognising the differences between different ethnic minority groups in that regard.
Religion and belief including non-belief
Impact: none
Data and analysis:
The proposals are considered to be of low relevance to religion and belief.
Sexual orientation
Impact: none
Data and analysis:
The proposals are considered to be of low relevance to sexual orientation.
Other e.g. carer, or those on a low income
Impact: none
Data and analysis:
The proposals are considered to be of low relevance to other i.e. carer, or those on a low income.
4. What consultation have you undertaken in the development of this policy/project or with stakeholders or critical friends? Outline the consultation method and what feedback has been received:
In September 2021, AfC plans to undertake consultation sessions with Year 9 and Year 10 students at Bedelsford, Dysart and St Philip’s and their parents/carers to obtain additional assurance that the campus proposal would be popular and successful.
5. Summary of findings
The Post 16 SEND Campus Project would produce significant moral, educational and financial benefits. Children and young people (CYP) with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) have less choice within Kingston borough than their neurotypical contemporaries, so this project would directly remedy that situation by enabling a bespoke campus for the co-location of both special school sixth form and specialist post-16 college provision, with a clear, accountable focus on improving educational outcomes, employability and the chances of leading successful and happy lives. It would also produce large revenue savings in the costs of post-16 and pre-16 educational placements, and home to school/college transport, by expanding the number of in-borough places available post-16, which would in turn free up space at the borough’s special schools for more pre-16 places. These new places would all be substantially cheaper to fund than placements outside the borough, especially those in the private sector.
AfC has made a successful bid to the Department for Education (DfE) for additional ‘High Needs Capital’ (HNC) funding – £3.6m which is ring-fenced specifically to help to fund this project. This is in addition to the £1.5m HNC allocation which the DfE allocated to RBK for the 2021/2022 year. A significant proportion of that £1.5m could be put towards funding this project. In addition, the project would see the freeing up of the RBK-owned Beaconsfield Road site for disposal. One of the conditions of the DfE’s allocation of ‘Safety Valve’ revenue funding to help RBK reach a positive in-year balance in its Dedicated Schools’ Grant High Needs expenditure is “Reform of the authority’s post-16 offer, including but not limited to development of new provision”, so there is a political imperative for this proposal, given that creating new SEND places within the borough could not be achieved by any other means.
6. Action planning
What consultation have you undertaken with stakeholders or critical friends about the key findings? Include any identified data gaps:
Issue identified N/A
Planned action N/A
Lead officer N/A
Completion date N/A
7. Publishing the completed Equality Impact Assessment
Completed date: 1 September 2021
Lead officer: Matthew Paul, Associate Director, School Place Planning
Signed off by: (Director level) Charis Penfold, Director of Education Services