20 May 2021

20 May 2021

Maxine Squire

Assistant Director

Education and Skills

Amanda Hatton

Director of Children Education and Communities

Implications for Applefields and Danesgate

Implications for Applefields and Danesgate

Options - Applefields

Options - Applefields

Executive

Report of the Corporate Director, People

Portfolio of the Executive Member for Children and Education)

School Capital Works – Internal capital works at Applefields Special School & Danesgate Pupil Referral Unit

Summary

1. The report provides details about the programme of capital works needed to address the sufficiency of appropriate specialist school places for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. The Executive is asked to approve capital works at Applefields Special School and The Danesgate Community. At Applefields School the works are needed to accommodate a growth in pupil numbers from September 2021. At Danesgate capital works are needed to make adaptations to ensure that the site better meets the needs of children and young people with a primary need of social, emotional and mental health (SEMH).

Recommendations – Applefields and Danesgate

2. The Executive is asked to consider:

1) Approval of works to complete classroom adaptations at Applefields School by September 2021. The capital scheme also involves the provision of essential administrative space by September 2022. The Executive is asked to delegate to the Director of People (in consultation with the Director of Governance or her delegated officers) the authority to take such steps as are necessary to procure, award and enter into the resulting construction contracts.

Reason: to provide sufficient special school places for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

2) Approval of works to carry out adaptations at Danesgate by September 2022 and to delegate to the Director of People (in consultation with the Director of Governance or her delegated officers) the authority to take such steps as are necessary to procure, award and enter into the resulting construction contracts.

Reason: to improve in-city provision for children and young people with SEMH.

3. The Executive is recommended to approve Applefields - option3, and Danesgate - option 3.

General Background – Applefields and Danesgate

4. As outlined in the report taken to Executive on the 29^th November 2018 approval was given to use Special Needs Capital Grant funding to improve SEMH provision at Danesgate. The Special Needs Capital Grant is provided by central government to support the sufficiency of provision for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

5. This paper focuses on two schemes to address the sufficiency of provision for children and young people with SEND. In York we have identified a need to further develop SEMH provision at both Applefields Secondary Special School and at Danesgate. These schemes are currently at detailed design and tender stages and a budget estimate has been established for both schemes.

Background - Applefields

6. As shown in the table below, pupil numbers over the last 4 years have increased. This is in line with the overall growth in numbers of secondary aged pupils. The school are set to see a further increase in pupil numbers from a roll of 178 to 196 in the 2021/22 academic year.

Total Numbers on roll (NOR)					Expected NOR
2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
144	154	165	180	196

7. This growth has seen an increasing number of young people with highly complex needs such as profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD), autism and those with the highest level of social and emotional need. To meet these needs the school requires additional space and staff support.

	Total pupils	PMLD	autism specific	SLD/MLD – Main site	Enhanced	Satellite/ Orchard
20-21	180	17	31	71	24	37
21-22	196	22	39	68	27	40

8. The total pupil intake in Year 7 for 2020-21 was 34 and it is projected to be 38 for September 2021, 14 of whom are from mainstream primaries. This compares to 20 pupils leaving the school in July 2021.

9. Although at present it is unknown how many pupils will move from mainstream primaries into Applefields, current trends indicate numbers are not expected to reduce. The intake between September 2022 and September 2024 from Hob Moor Oaks and Haxby Road Enhanced Resource Provision (ERP) alone is expected to be 18, 28 and 15 each year respectively. This figure does not include in-year admissions.

10. The table below shows the numbers in each cohort who are leaving. Based on known projections this indicates that pupils leaving have less complex needs than those starting over the next 4 years.

11. Internal adaptions are required to support the growing number of pupils and their complexity of need.

Consultation - Applefields

12. Staff at Applefields have worked closely with the Local Authority over recent years to ensure that appropriate provision is available in the school matched to cohort need. The type of provision required at Applefields is constantly evolving and this pattern is expected to continue into the future. The close working relationship with the Local Authority is essential to ensure that the current building can be adapted, extended and changed so that it can continue to meet the needs of the pupils attending the school.

13. Option 1

14. Do nothing

15. It would not be possible to meet the needs of the pupils in the current building, therefore doing nothing cannot be a recommendation.

16. Option 2

17. Provide additional teaching accommodation only

18. The Transition Zone was completed in 2011. The council’s multi disciplinary transition zone team who provided a range of services including health, education and social care moved out of the building during the lockdown period. Since then, the school have used the space as staff office accommodation to enable social distancing. This space is now needed as a teaching suite to accommodate the additional numbers from September 2021. Due to the current layout adaptations to create a teaching suite will be minimal.

19. In addition an existing classroom in school will be divided up to create a smaller teaching space and connecting chill out rooms. This will be used by pupils requiring enhanced provision with highly complex needs.

20. Bringing the Transition Zone into use as a teaching suite means that the office staff and senior leadership team currently using the space need to be relocated. The staff can be accommodated temporarily around school, but the spaces available are not ideal or sufficient and some staff will need to be relocated off site.

21. Option 3

22. Provide additional teaching and office accommodation

23. This option provides the same teaching facilities as option 1, however in order to accommodate the staff who will either be using temporary accommodation within school or be relocated off site additional office accommodation could be built.

24. The provision of additional new build will ensure adequate office accommodation is available on site for all administrative and senior leadership team staff. This accommodation would be located at the front of school adjacent to the main entrance. Due to the timescales required and the complexities of carrying out building work on the school site the work would need to be carried out as a second phase, completed by September 2022.

Analysis - Applefields

25. Option 1

26. Do Nothing

27. If major alterations to provisions was not possible and the aim was to maintain or reduce numbers over the coming years, the Local Authority and the school would need to streamline the amount of young people from non-specialist primaries.

28. This could mean supporting more pupils to transition from Applefields before Year 14 and onto a different provider and transporting pupils outside the City of York area.

29. Option 2

30. Provide additional teaching accommodation only

31. This will provide the school with the additional teaching accommodation required to meet the needs of all cohorts from September 2021.

32. However, it will not provide the accommodation necessary to house the administrative function, office or meeting spaces to allow the senior leadership team to operate.

33. Administrative staff will be working in unsuitable working conditions which cannot be maintained on a permanent basis.

34. Option 3

35. Provide additional teaching and office accommodation

36. This will ensure the school can accommodate all cohorts from 2021, and provides office staff with suitable workplaces from 2022. Both phases will address the health and safety and wellbeing of all staff and pupils.

37. Implications - Applefields

Financial

38. The Applefields School work is planned to be split over two years. Phase 1, the classroom adaptation work, will be carried out over summer 2021. The proposal is being prepared for tender and is estimated to cost approximately £250,000. Phase 2, the office extension, will be planned for the spring and summer of 2022 and is in the early stages of design. Indicative estimates suggest that the cost will be approximately £515,000. The total budget required is £765,000.

Risk Management

39. If the work at Applefields does not go ahead the council are at risk of not providing suitable secondary accommodation for pupils with the highest level of need in the city.

40. Costs for transporting pupils to other schools out of area will potentially increase.

41. Phase 1 - classroom adaptation work will be carried out during the summer holidays 2021. Work must be carried out while pupils are not on site, if works do not complete on time alternative provision will need to be sought.

42. Phase 2, office expansion will take longer than the 5 or 6 week summer holiday period and will need to be completed during term time. This will need to be carefully planned to ensure minimal disruption to pupils who may find noise, dust and building work activities upsetting.

Council Plan

Well paid jobs and an inclusive economy

43. The spaces being created at Applefields School will provide post 16 students with vocational opportunities and prepare them for moving on from school into adult life.

A greener and cleaner City

44. The new provision at Applefields School will minimise the number of pupils being transported to a school that is out of area.

Getting around sustainably

45. The new provision at Applefields School will minimise the number of pupils being transported to a school that is out of area.

A better start for children and young people

46. The spaces being created at Applefields School will provide appropriate and safe provision for pupils with high levels of need.

Background - Danesgate

47. A number of issues have led to the need to make significant changes at Danesgate.

· Pressures on the current space have increased as the school has started to implement a more formal school day, curriculum and group delivery model.

· Danesgate currently caters for a variety of needs, both with and without an EHCP on a single site; along with a mixture of SEND needs – notably SEMH and to a lesser extent ASC needs.

· Increasing numbers of children and young people have communication and interaction needs. The commissioned numbers for September 2021/22 reflect this. These commissioned numbers will impact upon the usage of the site and its ability and capacity to meet the specific needs. Bespoke needs-led breakout and intervention spaces are required.

· There are a rising number of children and young people unable to attend school with peers due to mental health needs. There is also an increasing need to have more bespoke provision for many students who display anxieties including specific intervention and break out spaces.

48. Danesgate has a high number of children and young people with EHCPs and adaptation to the site is needed to ensure that the site is better able to offer specialist education for children and young people with SEMH as their primary need. Before 2020-21, the provision was traditionally a personalised and often 1:1 model. This is not appropriate to the SEND needs of the majority of pupils currently using the provision. Therefore, a shift to group provision, ensuring future transitions are successful has now been implemented. This has resulted in a more formal timetable and increased hours, as is necessary for pupils with EHCPs, which in turn has put pressure upon existing spaces.

	Total Numbers on roll (NOR)					Expected NOR or through school paid commissioned places
	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Danesgate (Kestrel, off site)				22.2	28	28
Danesgate (main site)				166.9	164	160
Total				188.9	192	188

Consultation – Danesgate

49. Staff at Danesgate are fully supportive of the changes and have been working closely with the Local Authority to realise the ideas for redeveloping the site to cater for the needs of the cohorts. Current accommodation will completely change to allow for smaller teaching groups and more break out areas that will create a much improved service for children and young people, tailored to meet their needs and deliver better outcomes.

50. Options – Danesgate

51. Option 1

52. Do Nothing

53. Smaller cohorts of up to 8 students are recommended. The two buildings at Danesgate used by secondary pupils both have standard sized classrooms and few break out spaces. It would not be possible to meet the needs of its pupils in standard sized cohorts, therefore doing nothing cannot be a recommendation.

54. Option 2

55. Provide additional accommodation on and off site to cater for existing cohorts

56. At present, Danesgate caters for students with a wide variety of needs which has become challenging to manage on the current site. This has led to fragmented timetabling, a lack of teaching space to accommodate particular requirements and increased teaching and transport costs. It has become increasingly difficult to find space both on and off site to cater for students’ teaching needs.

57. Option 3

58. Re-organise the existing site for students with a range of different needs including PRU students and EHCP students with SEMH need.

59. A remodelling and re-organisation of the site is required to enable Danesgate to provide appropriate education to students with a wide variety of needs. A re-organisation of internal and external spaces; the introduction of a structured school day; the provision of smaller classrooms for smaller cohorts will allow teaching and transport requirements to be formalised, will eradicate confusion and reduce costs.

Analysis – Danesgate

60. Option 1

61. Do Nothing

62. There is a rise nationally in students and young people with SEMH. York has mirrored this trend. It would be impossible for the Danesgate site to accommodate the numbers of students needing a place with standard sized classrooms and very few break out spaces.

63. Re-organising the site will enable Danesgate to meet the needs of some extremely vulnerable pupils and young people.

64. Option 2

65. Provide additional accommodation on and off site to cater for existing cohorts

66. There is very little additional space at the Danesgate site to build any new accommodation that would meet the needs of the different groups of pupils on site. It is both difficult and expensive to continue to provide space off site at other venues city wide to meet needs.

67. The existing buildings on the Danesgate site could be adapted to accommodate students with varied needs. This will prevent having to spend money on multiple locations, which would also have to be adapted. This would ensure that a wide variety of needs across the city can be accommodated without duplication.

68. Option 3

69. Re-organise the existing site for students with a range of different needs including PRU students and EHCP students with SEMH needs

70. All classrooms on the site are of a standard size. These rooms are too big for students who will feel more comfortable learning in smaller groups of 8. There are also very few break out spaces across the Pupil Support Centre and Bridge Centre that will be required to help students with EHCPs.

71. Dividing up existing spaces and creating more break out spaces will allow for a net capacity on site of 156.

Implications – Danesgate

Financial

72. The work to Danesgate will be planned to take place from July to September 2022. The proposal is currently being discussed in detail and current estimates suggest a budget of £1,900,000 will be required.

Legal

73. It is understood that Danesgate may convert to Academy status in the future. If that is the case there may be implications for the resulting lease but this will depend upon the point at which any conversion takes place. Officers will work closely with Legal Services to identify any such implications and ensure any risks arising from such implications are mitigated as much as possible.

Other

74. Some work to a path and a lane outside of the site will be required.

75. Transportation of students, staff and visitors is being considered in detail to try to minimise the number of vehicles that will access the site once work is complete. A Travel Plan will be developed and submitted as part of the planning application process.

Risk Management

76. If the work at Danesgate does not go ahead, the council are at risk of not providing sufficient in city places for increasing numbers of students with EHCPs. This would lead to an increase in children and young people being educated out of area.

77. Costs to cater for the wide variety of needs for pupils at the Danesgate site are escalating. A re-organisation of both the offer and the site will address an increase in EHCP need and halt the confusion of provision at the site, together with off-site buildings use, transport and teaching costs.

78. As work will be taking place across every area of the site apart from the Skills Centre and the Primary Unit, to allow work to be completed both safely and in 3 months, all pupils using the PSC and BC will receive their education at other secondary schools during July 2022 and at another venue to be arranged during September 2022.

Council Plan

Well paid jobs and an inclusive economy

79. Students will benefit from a number of opportunities that will prepare them for further education and work.

A greener and cleaner City

80. A return to a structured school day will reduce the number of taxis arriving at site at different times of the day.

Getting around sustainably

81. Transportation of students, staff and visitors is being considered in detail to try to minimise the number of vehicles that will access the site once work is complete.

Good health and wellbeing

82. A Travel Plan will be developed where students, staff and visitors will be encouraged to use public transport, local cycle routes and walk to the site wherever possible.

83. A small gym will be developed for the students at the site.

A better start for children and young people

84. Anxiety is often prominent for students with SEMH. The re-organised spaces at Danesgate will help to minimise fears due to smaller spaces and class cohorts. The smaller areas at the re-organised Danesgate site will enable students with EHCPs to feel less overwhelmed and will help them to concentrate more on their education and move onto their next stage.

Financial

85. Therefore the current estimated total cost of the works proposed at these two schools is £2,665,000. It is proposed to fund this from a combination of the budget remaining in the SEND Facilities Scheme in the programme (£839,000), new funding announced by the DfE for SEND provision (£627,000), and supplemented by a further allocation of uncommitted Basic Need funding (£1,199,000). This would result in uncommitted Basic Need of £6,520,000 remaining.

Human Resources (HR)

86. There are no HR implications.

Equalities

87. The schemes will maximise pupils’ opportunities, provide support and enable staff to carry out their duties efficiently.

Legal

88. Any proposed works will need to be commissioned via compliant procurement route under the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules and the Public Contract Regulations 2015. The works for both Danesgate and Applefields outlined above fall significantly below the relevant threshold for the procurement of works under the Regulations (i.e. £4,733,252), therefore a full procurement exercise under the Regulations will not be required in this instance. However, a competitive process for quotations will still need to be advertised and run under the Contract Procedure Rules, and an appropriate form of contract will need to be drafted and completed with support from Legal Services. It is understood that Danesgate may have converted to Academy status by the time the works are to be procured. If this is the case it may be that the Academy Trust conducts the relevant procurement process.

Crime and Disorder

89. There are no crime and disorder implications.

Information Technology (IT)

90. There are no IT implications.

Property

91. Applefields Special School and Danesgate are both maintained by City of York Council.

Council Plan

An open and effective council

92. The recommendations in this report for Applefields and Danesgate are linked to the Inclusion Review and its public consultation.

Contact Details

Author:	Chief Officer Responsible for the report:
Maxine Squire Assistant Director Education and Skills Tel No. Ali Kelly & Claire McCormick Planning and Policy Officers School Services 01904 554655 01904 554334	Amanda Hatton Director of Children Education and Communities
	Report Approved	√	Date

Specialist Implications Officers Financial Legal Mike Barugh Cathryn Moore Principal Accountant Legal Manager 01904 554573. 01904 552487
Wards Affected:				All	√

For further information please contact the author of the report

ASC specific

SLD/MLD – Main site

Satellite/

Orchard