All Wirral’s special schools for CLD are considered by Ofsted to be either excellent or good with outstanding features. However, the review has been ordered in response to earlier consultations with parents, head teachers, governors and staff, who said they felt provision could be improved if it was offered in more up-to-date and purpose-designed premises.

Members approved the review on September 25 last year, since when the Council has been talking to interested parties from all the schools involved, and public meetings have also been held in all five schools. Feedback has also been received from other key stakeholders from education, health and social care, including Connexions, the Learning and Skills Council and Wirral Metropolitan College.

From their discussions, the following options have been drawn up, and Cabinet will be asked to decide which to proceed with:

Option One

•(a) The replacement of the three current primary schools with two new-build facilities, or
•(b) The replacement of just Stanley and Elleray Park schools with two new-build primary facilities, (with investigations continuing into developing provision specifically for children with profound and multiple learning difficulties from the age of two to 19). Under this option The Lyndale School would remain as it is pending the outcome of these investigations.

Option Two

•The development of a new single secondary school on split sites, one for pupils aged 11-16, and the other for pupils aged 16-19. The 11-16 site would be co-located with a mainstream secondary school, with the intention for the 16-19 site to be co-located with Wirral Metropolitan College.

Both the above options are dependent on talks with education and other providers regarding funding and the availability of appropriate sites and the provision of additional services. The majority of funding is likely to be made available through the monies allocated to Wirral via the ‘Building Schools for the Future’ initiative and the Learning and Skills Council.

If Cabinet approves the recommendations, the next step will be to identify potential sites for the two new primary schools and for the new 11-16 and 16-19 sites. The Council is also talking to NHS Wirral about plans to co-locate a new child development center with one of the primary schools and is investigating the potential for providing facilities for short breaks and independence skills training.

Said Cllr Phil Davies, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services and Lifelong Learning: "These are very good schools operating in buildings that in many cases are no longer fit for purpose.

‘It is not about reducing the overall number of places, indeed we anticipate an increase in post 16 provision under the proposals, and will still require a similar number of staff to teach, support and care for the pupils.

‘This is the beginning of a process, during which, we will be liaising closely with pupils, parents, headteachers, carers and other agencies to ensure that the excellent provision we currently have for children with special needs is carried forward into the future,’ he added.

Director of the Children and Young People’s Department, Howard Cooper, stated that “This is a once in a generation opportunity for some of our most vulnerable children and young people to benefit from the investments we are making in ensuring that all our schools, both special and mainstream, are fit for the demands of the 21st century. We already know from our secondary programme of the gains that can be achieved from providing students and their teachers with state of the art premises and facilities. We are now able to extend this to our special schools. Co-location of the proposed new schools offers enormous potential for further including our pupils with special needs in mainstream life and providing a learning pathway, which takes them from childhood to adult life. Working closely with parents and all the other services who these children and their families need can only enhance this.”