Lancaster school 'set up to fail' will close if private sponsor cannot be found

Lancashire County Council is conducting a public consultation on its plans to privatise Wennington Hall School amid claims it is no longer financially viable.

A formal consultation process regarding the future of the school, in Lodge Lane in the village of Wennington, is currently ongoing.

A county council spokesperson said that the consultation, about discontinuing the school being run by Lancashire County Council, was needed after the Secretary of State revoked an academy order issued in 2017.

Lancashire County Council's cabinet agreed to the consultation in January this year, acknowledging that the school, which was rated as inadequate by Ofsted, could no longer be run as a maintained school.

Approval was given by the Secretary of State to revoke the academy order because a suitable sponsor hadn't come forward to run the school.

However, a condition was applied that an independent provider must be secured to deliver education from the site.

But representatives from the Morecambe & Lunesdale Labour Party have raised some concerns over the county council’s administration of the School following a poor Ofsted report in 2016.

At that time further admissions to the school were restricted and pupil numbers have been in decline since.

Of the 80 places that the school can offer, only 55 are currently filled.

Consequently, the group said, the school is underfunded and is running ‘at a loss’, prompting the move toward privatisation.

Lancaster City Coun Philip Black said the school’s most recent Ofsted report showed marked improvements made under the guidance of a new head teacher and was far more favourable.

He said: “It seems to me that the school has been deliberately set up to fail.

"Purposely restricting admissions was inevitably going to lead to a funding crisis.

"There is no small amount of irony that the Tory’s proposed solution to this manufactured crisis will very likely be far more costly to the tax payer than county continuing to operate the school.

"Private Special schools are notoriously expensive for the public purse. Any new operators would need to make a profit for themselves as well as providing an educational service.

“I have a number of concerns about the job security and livelihoods of the staff and worry that in this ideological push for privatisation the very most important thing is being overlooked: the welfare of dozens of particularly vulnerable students.

"The County Council have a duty of care, they need to stop messing about and make a firm commitment to support the school.”

Wennington Hall School offers special educational provision for children from across Lancashire (and parts of Cumbria) with academic, social, emotional and behavioural difficulties who are subject to Education & Health Care Plans (EHCP’s) and for whom mainstream secondary education isn’t appropriate.

The school is one of only two special schools of this type in the county which offer some residential places.

Lancashire Council Council said that that if an independent provider cannot be found, the Regional Schools Commissioner will have the option of continuing to seek an academy sponsor or working with the county council to put the necessary arrangements in place to close the school.

The statutory consultation began in January. Parents, staff and other interested parties have the chance to ask questions and express their views until Monday 16 March 2020 at https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/council/performance-inspections-reviews/children-education-and-families/school-organisation-reviews/wennington-hall-school/ or by emailing [email protected] before 16 March 2020.

The county council said it is committed to continuing to support the school during this period of change. Working in partnership with the school governors to secure an alternative education provider for the Wennington Hall site also remains a priority.

County Councillor Phillippa Williamson, cabinet member for children, young people and schools, said: "The council's cabinet considered this proposal very carefully, before arriving at their decision.

"We have a duty to provide a high-quality education for all of our young people and this was a major factor in the discussion that we had about the future of the school.

"Despite all the efforts that we have made the school's last rating from Ofsted was Inadequate once again. An Academy Order was issued in January 2017, however the Regional Schools Commissioner has been unable to find a suitable sponsor."

The school will stop being run by the county council from August 2020.