Torbay Council
currently commissions The Spires College, a Secondary School in
Torbay, to provide specialist places for children with ASC
(Autistic Spectrum Condition) within an Enhanced Resource Provision
(ERP).
In December, The
Spires College contacted Torbay Council outlining that they wished
to give notice on the ERP. The reasons
outlined by The Spires College are as follows:
The
College has seen an increase in a wider range of other high needs
and requires the resources to be able to support all students,
regardless of primary area of need.
The
College has very limited space; the site has a footprint that falls
well below the average for secondary schools, and site restrictions
mean there is no capacity for expansion. It needs to be able to adjust its allocation of
resources according to the needs of students on roll, rather than
working within the confines of what is prescribed for the provision
of an ERP.
The
local authority allocates places in an ERP and specify the level of
service to be provided. Following the
closure, the College will continue to support children with high
levels of need but will be able to do so with more flexibility, for
example, by continuing to provide the support of our specialist
staff into the Sixth Form.
The
College previously hosted an ERP for Hearing
Impairment. This was decommissioned
last year, and the College has taken this provision
‘in-house’. This has been
successful and allowed the school to support the needs of more
children, as well as enhancing the level of support provided to
those students who held places in the ERP. It has given the school a successful model for the
proposed changes to its ASC provision.
The Spires College
carried out a consultation with their local community, in line with
the requirements outlined in
Making significant changes (‘prescribed alterations’) to maintained
schools. No responses were received as part of this
consultation.
