'I'm concerned kids will fall through gaps': Update on major shakeup of special educational needs provision
A shakeup of special educational needs (SEN) provision in North Tyneside’s schools has been signed off.
Plans approved by councillors on Monday evening will include expanding the age range of a special school and the closure of a unit for children with moderate learning difficulties. North Tyneside Council said that the reorganisation would “better reflect” pupils’ changing needs, despite concerns that some youngsters could “fall through gaps”.
The council’s proposals include decommissioning an Additional Resourced Provision (ARP) at Whitley Lodge First School, in Whitley Bay, which had capacity to support five children with moderate learning difficulties.
Labour councillor Steve Phillips, the council’s cabinet member responsible for education, said the decision to shut the ARP had already been made by the school in summer 2024 and that alternative options had been deemed not financially viable.
61% of people who took part in a public consultation disagreed with the closure, with comments that the reorganisation “should not be at the detriment of the pupils at Whitley Lodge”. One commenter warned: “My concern is that children with moderate learning difficulties will have fewer local options and may be forced to travel further or fall through gaps.
“Closing existing support units without proving that stronger, more effective alternatives are already in place risks leaving more families in the same situation. Provision should be increased and improved, not removed.”
The council said that Whitley Lodge First School was “working closely with the families of the two children in the ARP, and the school is committed to the pupils remaining in their care, with the necessary support, for as long as parents/carers choose or until the end of Year 4”.
It added that the closure of the ARP and new SEND funding secured to fund the opening of a new outdoor space had “allowed the school to provide an improved SEND offer for all children”. The council’s plans include the opening of two new SEN units in primary schools.
A 12-place language and communication unit will open at Waterville Primary School and a 12-place ARP focused on social, emotional and mental health needs will be located at Percy Main Primary School.
Around 90% of the 254 survey responses received by the council were supportive of the new units opening. The decision from the council’s cabinet on Monday evening also approved the expansion of the age range of pupils able to attend Silverdale School, an over-subscribed special school in Howdon, from seven to 16 to age four to 16.
Cabinet member Coun Peter Earley added: “I think the plan sets out how we are going to put support for children with special educational needs at the right level and in the right place, to enable more children with those needs to stay in mainstream education. I think that is one of the most important things we can do.”
The council has previously committed to increase the total number of primary and secondary school SEND places available across North Tyneside by 114, to a total 258, by January 2028.