£1m for new Worthing special school site

The Pines in Durrington is to become an Oak Grove College satellite site. Image: GoogleThe Pines in Durrington is to become an Oak Grove College satellite site. Image: Google
The Pines in Durrington is to become an Oak Grove College satellite site. Image: Google
More than £1million is to be used by West Sussex County Council to open a satellite site for a special school in Worthing.

Despite an expansion in 2022, Oak Grove College has seen an increased demand for places for secondary school children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).

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Some 60 of those places could soon be ready after Jacquie Russell, cabinet member for children and young people, learning and skills, approved the use of £1.05million from the SEND capital budget to remodel The Pines, in Faraday Close, Durrington.

The Pines was formerly used as a centre for adults with learning difficulties but was declared surplus to requirements in November, 2022. The work will see it revamped to provide classrooms, group rooms, a calming room, a sensory room, toilet facilities, space for dining and PE, and an outdoor play area.

A report by Andrew Edwards, assistant director of property and assets, and Claire Hayes, assistant director of education and skills, said creating extra SEND places would save the council £27,300 per place per annum on average.

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This is compared to the cost of placing children in schools not controlled by the local authority, which adds up to £1,638,000 saved per year once all 60 places are filled.

There has been a significant growth in the number of children in West Sussex with Education Health & Care Plans. The council maintains 8,000 such plans and is working through a backlog of hundreds of cases. Since 2019, the number of Education Health & Care needs assessments completed each year has risen by 61 per cent.

The report said: “The increase in West Sussex is significantly above that seen nationally and in other local authorities across the south-east region. In response to the increased demand for specialist provision, the approved place numbers of all the council’s maintained special schools have been exceeded.”

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