Prescribed Alteration to Increase Special School Provision at Rumworth School

Prescribed Alteration to Increase Special School Provision at
                               Rumworth School

The following proposals are published under Section 31(1) of the School
Standards and Framework Act 1998 as amended by Section 19(1) of the
Education and Inspections Act 2006 and the School Organisation (Prescribed
Alterations to Maintained Schools) (England) Regulations 2013.

School and Local Authority details:
Name of school: Rumworth School, Armadale Road, Bolton, BL3 4TP
Name of Local Authority: Bolton Council, Town Hall, Victoria Square, Bolton BL1 1RU
Contact Details: Ruth Crawford, Principal Asset Management Officer, Bolton Council,
Children’s Services, 1st Floor Town Hall, Bolton BL1 1RU, or via email at
ruth.crawford@bolton.gov.uk

Description of the proposed alteration:
It is proposed to enlarge and increase the current capacity of Rumworth School in order to
permanently raise the number of pupils on role from 150 Y7 – Y11 pupils to up to 250 Y7 –
Y11 pupils and from up to 90 Y12 – Y14 post -16 students to up to 150 Y12 -Y14 post -16
students. Thereby increasing the provision overall by up to 160 pupil places with effect from
September 2021
The proposal to increase the physical capacity at Rumworth School falls within the
requirements of a ‘significant alteration’ as defined within the School Organisation
Regulations (Prescribed Alterations to Maintained Schools) (England) 2013 and therefore is
required to undergo this formal consultation process.

Evidence of demand:
Rumworth is a popular and outstanding secondary special school that provides education
for children from ages 11 to 19 years (Y7 – Y14). The school caters for pupils who have
moderate learning difficulties (MLD); severe learning difficulties (SLD); complex needs;
autistic spectrum conditions (ASD); learning difficulties with social and mental health needs
(SEMH) and a range of other SEND.
Within the last ten years or so, there have been significant increases in pupil numbers across
the borough, and which has also resulted in an increased need for additional places within

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special school provision. To meet previous demand the school was subject to an increase in
pupil numbers from September 2016, when pupil capacity was increased to enable the
school to admit from 160 up to 240 pupils overall on roll. This involved a substantial building
expansion, almost doubling the size of the school from what it was originally and provided
the school with its own hall and kitchen facilities as part of the expansion.
However, recent pupil projections forecast the need for further increases within Special
School provision and to meet this ongoing demand, Rumworth has already admitted pupils
above its planned pupil number. As a result of this, the school has now fully filled all of its
available accommodation and will be unable to increase pupil numbers further without an
increase to its physical capacity.
On 5th October 2020, the Executive Member with responsibility for children and schools
considered a report advising of the increased demand for pupil places at Rumworth School
and approved funding to meet the cost of expanding the school’s physical capacity. The
Council and its partners are currently working closely with the Head teacher to develop a
proposal to best meet the ongoing needs of the school.

Objectives:
The objective of this proposal is to permanently expand Rumworth School, to enable the
school to accommodate additional pupils with effect from September 2021 and in doing so,
to raise the current overall capacity of the school from 240 pupil places to up to 400 pupil
places overall across all year groups. It is proposed that this will be achieved through the
construction of a new purpose-built building and will include the creation of external
recreational and social spaces to meet the needs of the additional pupil numbers.
The proposed expansion of Rumworth School will help to provide increased opportunities
for children with special needs within Bolton to access the high-quality education that
Rumworth offers and access to facilities that best meet their individual needs. Increasing the
provision at Rumworth will also give greater opportunity for parental choice to be reflected
in placement decisions.

Implementation and any proposed stages for implementation:
If approved, it is proposed that the school will permanently increase its pupil capacity from
1st September 2021 and although the school has already accommodated some additional
pupils because of the high demand for places, the proposed subject of this consultation is to
make this change permanent to enable further pupil intakes.

The effect on other schools, academies, and educational institutions within the area:
Over the last ten years, capacity has been increased at several special schools within the
borough to meet the growing need for special school provision. Additionally, some small
discrete units have been introduced within a few mainstream schools to meet a specific
special educational need. Over the last year discussions have taken place with special school

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headteachers across the borough to discuss future capacity needs to respond to the rising
demand for special school places and these talks are ongoing.
Bolton Council believes that all education provision should be of high quality and when
considering proposals to increase capacity, the creation of additional pupil places should be
at popular and successful schools. Rumworth School is classed as an “Outstanding school”,
as confirmed by Ofsted at its last inspection in October 2018 and continues to be a popular
school as evidenced by the high number of admission applications.
The proposed prescribed alteration would introduce additional special school capacity and
maximise the opportunity for pupils to access appropriate local provision. It is not
anticipated that this will have any detrimental impact on other schools, academies, or
educational institutions within the area.

Consultation:
The Department for Education guidance sets out a process that must be followed when
making prescribed alterations to maintained schools and there is a strong expectation that
the Local Authority will informally consult interested parties in developing their proposal
prior to publication as part of their duty under public law to act rationally and take into
account all relevant considerations. An appropriate informal public consultation exercise
was therefore carried out for 6 term time weeks from 19th October to 4th December 2020 to
allow all interested parties the opportunity to find out more about the proposal and to
submit their comments.
The consultation document was widely circulated to all Staff, Governors, Parents and Carers
of Pupils attending the school, Local Rumworth Ward Councillors, union bodies,
neighbouring Local Authorities, Local MP’s, Manchester and Salford Diocesan colleagues
and Head Teachers at other Bolton schools.
The document was also available on the Council’s website at
http://www.bolton.gov.uk/website/Pages/Schoolsandchildren.aspx
On the 11th January the Executive Member for Children’s Services, considered the
responses to the informal consultation exercise and approved the publication of the
Statutory Notice to expand capacity at Rumworth School and in doing so, gave approval to
undertake this formal consultation on the proposal. A copy of the report can be found at:
www.bolton.gov.uk/website/Pages/Cabinetandcommittees.aspx

Project costs including how long-term value for money will be achieved:
The proposed development comprising the physical expansion of the school is estimated to
cost in the region of £3.66M and will be supported from capital funding that has been
allocated to Bolton Council from the Department of Education.
A review of the school’s current and future accommodation needs has been undertaken to
identify the building provision required to meet the educational needs of the additional

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pupils and has taken into account appropriate Department for Education Building Bulletin
guidance (BB104) for Special School provision.
The proposed works will be procured in an appropriate manner to ensure value for money is
achieved but the proposal will also support long-term value for money by reducing the
potential need for expensive out of borough placements

How to respond to the proposal:
Within four weeks from the date of publication of this proposal (i.e. by Wednesday 24th
February 2021), any person may object to or make comments on the proposal by sending
them to:
Ruth Crawford, Principal Asset Management Officer, Bolton Council, Children’s Services,
1st Floor Town Hall, Bolton BL1 1RU,
or via email at ruth.crawford@bolton.gov.uk

What happens next?
The following table sets out the key dates for the consultation and decision making to meet
the Department for Education requirements for consultation on school organisation
proposals:

 School Organisation Process                     Date
 Statutory Notice published                      28th January 2021
 Statutory Consultation period                   28th January 2021-24th February 2021
 Decision required, no later than                23rd April 2021
 If approved, implementation                     1st September 2021

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Appendix 1. SEN Improvement Test
In planning and commissioning SEN provision or considering a proposal for change, Local
Authorities should aim for a flexible range of provision and support that can respond to the
needs of individual pupils and parental preferences. This is favourable to establishing broad
categories of provision according to special educational need or disability.

                 Key Considerations and the impact of the proposal
 Objective                            Action
 Proposals should take account of     An informal consultation was undertaken to invite
 parental preferences for             comments for the proposed increase and was received
 particular styles of provision or    from:
 education settings
                                      A parent in support of the scheme, who commented on
                                      the need for the children to have access to the space
                                      and exceptional facilities that their individual needs
                                      demand and for them to feel safe and secure in their
                                      environment.

                                      The schools latest Ofsted report states that “Parents
                                      and carers are overwhelmingly positive and feel that
                                      their children are safe in school. They think that the
                                      curriculum is designed to meet their children’s needs
                                      and that this leads to high levels of engagement and
                                      strong progress. Parents value the support that their
                                      children receive to gain confidence and behave
                                      appropriately” (Oct 2018)

 Proposal should take account of      Bolton is committed to promoting integration between
 any relevant local offer for         special educational provision and health and social care
 children and young people with       provision to promote well-being and improve the
 SEN and disabilities and the views   quality of provision, in line with the SEND Code of
 expressed on it                      Practice 2015.

 Proposals should offer a range of    The proposed prescribed alteration seeks to increase
 provision to respond to the needs    the capacity of Bolton’s special school estate.
 of individual children and young     The proposed increase in pupil numbers at Rumworth
 people regional centres (of          will give the opportunity for more Bolton children to
 expertise) and regional and sub-     access specialist facilities that this outstanding school
 regional provision                   can offer.

 Proposals should take full           Rumworth has been judged as Outstanding by Ofsted
 account of educational               since at least 2006.
 considerations, in particular the
 need to ensure a broad and           Rumworth offers a specialised learning environment
 balanced curriculum, within a        with a range of different resources to support SEN
 learning environment where           requirements for all pupils. The curriculum offered is
 children can be healthy and staff    adapted to each pupil’s individual needs to ensure all
 safe

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pupils have the opportunity to learn and make
                                     progress.

                                     Rumworth school’s vision “aims to create a happy, safe
                                     and effective learning community, in which all
                                     stakeholders are valued” and “aims to provide students
                                     with a wealth of learning opportunities which will not
                                     only give them an enriching school experience but will
                                     also equip students with the skills to give every young
                                     person the chance to progress smoothly towards a life
                                     of opportunity”.

Proposals should support the LA’s     The proposal closely aligns with Bolton Councils Vision
strategy for making schools and      outcomes to ensure “Our children get the best possible
settings more accessible to          start in life, so that they have every chance to succeed
disabled children and young          and be happy” and “Stronger, cohesive, more confident
people and their scheme for          communities in which people feel safe, welcome and
promoting equality of                connected”
opportunity for disabled people
                                     Bolton’s strategic priority is to join up support across
                                     education, health and care, from birth to 25 to ensure:

                                        •   Participation of children, their parents and
                                            young people in decision-making.
                                        •   Early identification of children and young
                                            people’s needs and early intervention to
                                            support them.
                                        •   Greater choice and control for young people
                                            and parents over support.
                                        •   Collaboration between education, health and
                                            social care services to provide support.
                                        •   High quality provision to meet the needs of
                                            children and young people with SEN.
                                        •   Focus on inclusive practice and removing
                                            barriers to learning.
                                        •   Successful preparation for adulthood, including
                                            independent living and employment.

Proposals should provide access      The school employs appropriately trained staff with
to appropriately trained staff and   training packages reviewed regularly to ensure the
access to specialist support and     needs of all pupils are met. The school is supported by
advice, so that individual pupils    and takes advice from a range of specialist services and
can have the fullest possible        therapists including the NHS, Integrated Community
opportunities to make progress in    Paediatric Service (ICPS) Paediatric Nurses Team for
their learning and participate in    Special Schools.
their school and community
                                     Ofsted notes that “each individual pupil is respected,
                                     cared for and challenged to achieve the very best that
                                     they can” and “Teaching is of a consistently high
                                     standard”

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Proposals should ensure              Rumworth provides education for pupils aged 11 to 19
appropriate provision for 14-19      years of age. The proposed increase in capacity will
year olds                            enable the school to cater for a greater number of
                                     pupils moving forwards.

Proposals should ensure that         This proposal does not displace any pupils currently on
appropriate full-time education      roll at the school
will be available to all displaced
pupils

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