Due to the many complex graphs and tables in the Strategy, they may be some issues reading the tables despite attempts at making them accessible. If that is the case, please contact childrenscommissioning@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk
The purpose of this strategy is threefold;
This strategy is a dynamic document that responds to change, and the Council will continue to work with its schools, partners and stakeholders to ensure financial resilience, and long-term planning, providing the best education for all in line with the Children and Young People’s plan 2020-2023.
This strategy will be updated annually, to reflect any changes in the education and pupil place landscape, incorporating any lessons from the current period, and reflecting on any more significant changes that may have taken place.
The council are in the process of redesigning services to meet the needs of the population in a time of significant financial challenges. The Children and Young People's Strategy and associated transformation plans will focus on intervening early in the lives of children and families, to reduce the long term impact on children’s lives, and the way services are delivered will evolve over the coming years to support an Inclusion Strategy
This strategy is limited to the SEND cohort of children with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP), of which there are approximately 2,800 as at August 2020, for which the Council has specific statutory obligations to secure educational provision.
Apart from recent detailed feasibility studies, the analysis provided in this strategy has been conducted as a desk based activity as a result of the restrictions in visiting educational settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further work may therefore be required to validate the information relating to the position of the Council’s existing SEND provision when it is feasible to do so.
The SEND cohort includes 2,800 children and young people who are supported through an EHCP. The majority of children with EHCPs across the cohort are in Key Stage 2 with 743 pupils making 26% of the cohort, w+hich presents a rising pressure as this cohort move into Key Stage 3 with 613 pupils making 22% of the cohort and Key Stage 4 with 403 pupils making 14% of the cohort.
| Phase of Education | Number of students |
| Early Years | 200 |
| Key Stage 1 | 250 |
| Key Stage 2 | 743 |
| Key Stage 3 | 613 |
| Key Stage 4 | 403 |
| Post-16 plus | 610 |
| Age | Approximate number of students |
| 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 0 |
| 2 | 5 |
| 3 | 10 |
| 4 | 100 |
| 5 | 90 |
| 6 | 130 |
| 7 | 140 |
| 8 | 140 |
| 9 | 160 |
| 10 | 220 |
| 11 | 210 |
| 12 | 230 |
| 13 | 200 |
| 14 | 195 |
| 15 | 190 |
| 16 | 215 |
| 17 | 170 |
| 18 | 150 |
| 19 | 100 |
| 20 | 80 |
| 21 | 50 |
| 22 | 30 |
| 23 | 20 |
| 24 | 5 |
| 25 | 5 |
16% of children and young people with EHCPs are placed out of the County. With the majority of children placed in either Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, Hampshire County Council and Somerset County Council Areas.
The first most common primary need in Dorset is Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), 28% of the EHCP cohort, while the national average is 30%. The second most common primary need is Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH), 21% of the EHCP cohort, while the national average is 14%. The third most common primary need is Speech, Language and Communications needs (SLCN) with 16% of the EHCP cohort; the national average is 15%. Together these primary needs make up 65% of the cohort.
The data demonstrates that the Council’s SEMH cohort is significantly out of step with the national average. Whilst no immediate conclusions can be drawn, this may warrant further research to understand the demographic of this cohort.
| Key designated ECHP capacity | Mountjoy School | Beaucroft School | Westfield Arts College | Wyvern Academy | Yewstock School & College | total Pupil numbers on roll |
| Autistic Spectrum Disorder | 17 | 36 | 78 | 31 | 43 | 205 |
| Speech, Language and Communication Needs | 16 | 14 | 33 | 7 | 27 | 97 |
| Physical Disability | 5 | 11 | 16 | 13 | 8 | 53 |
| Moderate Learning Difficulty | 9 | 19 | 47 | 1 | 27 | 103 |
| Severe Learning Difficulty | 13 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 21 | 68 |
| Specific Learning Difficulty | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| Profound & Multiple Learning Difficulty | 2 | n/a | 1 | 8 | 4 | 15 |
| Multi Sensory Impairment | 1 | n/a | 2 | 1 | n/a | 4 |
| Social, Emotional and Mental Health | 4 | 3 | 18 | 1 | 8 | 34 |
| Unclassified | 1 | n/a | n/a | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Other | 0 | n/a | n/a | 1 | 1 | |
| Visual Impairment | 1 | n/a | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Hearing Impairment | 4 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 17 |
| School total Pupil number on roll | 74 | 92 | 208 | 91 | 148 | 613 |
| School | Nursey | Pre- School Part Time 3 | Pre- School Full Time 3 | Reception part time 4 | Reception full time 4 | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | Year 6 | Year 7 | Year 8 | Year 9 | Year 10 | Year 11 | Year 12 | Year 13 | Year 14 | Total number on roll as at January 2020 | In-country | Out county |
| Beaucroft | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 4 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 16 | 12 | 17 | 12 | 16 | 14 | 17 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 166 | 92 | 74 |
| Westfield | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 13 | 17 | 15 | 30 | 23 | 20 | 14 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 6 | 209 | 208 | 1 |
| The Harbour | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 2 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 5 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 21 | 21 | 0 |
| Mountjoy | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 93 | 74 | 19 |
| Wyvern | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 7 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 87 | 91 | 0 | |
| Yewstock | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 15 | 6 | 8 | 19 | 18 | 13 | 14 | 17 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 160 | 148 | 12 |
| total pupils attending Dorset special schools | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 32 | 41 | 34 | 51 | 63 | 53 | 83 | 68 | 58 | 52 | 64 | 39 | 46 | 27 | 736 | 634 | 106 |
| Category | Pre-school | Primary school age pupils | Secondary school | Post-16 | Number on roll within existing Dorset special school settings, January 2020 census data |
| Existing numbers on roll | 0 | 299 | 325 | 112 | N/A |
| Number on roll based on teaching groups | 25 | 73 | 201 | 209 | 116 |
Where the Council is unable to meet needs within state school provision, such as maintained schools, academies or Free Schools, children and young people may be placed in Independent Specialist Placements (ISP) and Independent or Non-Maintained Special Schools (INMSS). These are typically expensive placements and would otherwise be supported through state provision, had there been sufficient provision and as a result place pressure on the High Needs Block Grant. In some extremely complex cases, the Council is not always best placed to be an efficient provider of education and ISP and INMSS settings are necessary to meet particular needs.
There are 257 children and young people in ISP and INMSS settings, with a mix of non-residential and residential placed which creates an overall budget pressure of approximately £14m.
The most common primary need is in the ISP and INMSS cohort is ASD with 35% of all cases. The second most common primary need is Social, Emotional and Mental Health with 28% of all cases. The third most common primary need is Physical Disability with 12% of all cases. 54% of children and young people with EHCPs in ISP and INMSS are placed out of the Council. With the majority of children placed in either Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, Hampshire County Council and Somerset County Council.
Whilst most children and young people with special education needs supported by an EHCP can have their needs met from within mainstream settings, there are insufficient specialist provision places for those with the most complex needs.
ISPs and INMSS placements can meet the needs of our children and young people, it is not typically the most cost-efficient method of delivering provision and puts financial pressure on the High Needs Block, reducing the overall amount of funding available for the wider cohort.
This means our children and young people in ISP and INMSS are often educated out of the Council area
| Locality | Approximate number of children and young people supported by an EHCP |
|---|---|
| Chesil | 750 |
| Dorchester | 350 |
| East | 500 |
| North | 600 |
| Purbeck | 300 |
| West | 300 |
| Total | 2,800 |
At a time of significant pressure for local government, the SEND cohort of children with Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans has continued to increase year on year since 2010. Nationally, there were 354,000 children and young people with EHC plans maintained by local authorities as at January 2019. This is an increase of 34,200 or 11% from 2018. This is driven by increases across all age groups, with largest percentage increases in the 0 to 5 age group at 13% and the 20 to 25 age groups at 32%.
Place/translate image
The growing SEND cohort nationally and locally within Dorset brings financial pressure to the Council’s revenue budget. With adequate long-term evidence-based planning, the Council can mitigate the impact on its revenue budget through invest to save capital investments that develop the SEND estate and create capacity within our education system to continue to meet children and young people’s needs.
The Council will work in partnership with all education providers and develop relationships to support every child across Dorset. The aim is to allow children to access appropriate education in their local area, whilst at the same time providing best value for any investment. This will include work with Academies, Federations, Learning Centres, Maintained schools, Special Schools and schools in the independent sector
The Council has a duty to provide best value for its residents and aims to secure continuous improvement in the way in which its functions are exercised, having regard to a combination of costs, throughputs and outcomes. This is particularly relevant during the current time, where we are facing significant financial challenges.
Predictive modelling of the size of the cohort in the field of SEND is limited for a number of reasons. Whilst the forecasting of the wider education cohort can be informed by data such as birth rates, early years trends and housing development, to name a few variables, there are not similar data available for the entire SEND cohort.
Furthermore, since the introduction of the Children and Families Act 2014, the SEND EHCP cohort has grown rapidly each year, meaning that any trends are difficult to extrapolate.
Despite this, there are several assumptions and trends where assertions can be made which should be factored into the forecasting of the SEND cohort.
These are:
The Department for Education Building Bulletin 104 (BB104) sets out non-statutory area guidelines for SEND buildings and alternative provision and specially resourced provision and units.
To establish the capacity of the existing mainstream special schools, a desk-based exercise, as set out in section 1.2, was undertaken to validate the capacity of the SEND estate and identify any available capacity or significant pressures.
When the Council received its Local Area SEND inspection in 2017, many parents who gave their views during the inspection cited delays in assessments and lack of provision to meet the needs of their child. This inspection required the Local Authority to produce a Written Statement of Action. Since then, the expansion of special school provision has had only a limited impact on meeting the demand of the existing and growing cohort of children and young people.
With the exception of Beaucroft Foundation school, all of the special schools are operating at capacity, based on a desk-based analysis. In practice, BB104 is advisory guidance and not a statutory requirement and therefore the existing schools have used their professional judgement, with support from the property team to maximise the use of their buildings.
Future capacity in the Harbour School and the unnamed new Special Educational NeedSEN School project will focus heavily on the preparation for adulthood agenda as create provision for children and young people aged 10 and above.
Capacity has been based on a pupil/class base ratio of 1:8, however some schools will be operating a high ratio of teachers to pupils to widen their admissions, where this has been conducive to children and young people achieving their outcomes.
| Age Range in Years | School Name | Published Admission Capacity | Existing Number on Roll (January 2020 Census) | Future Pupil Places | BB104 Calculated Pupil Capacity | Difference in Capacity Data '+ / - (BB104)' |
| 2 to19 | Wyvern Academy | 85 | 87 | 91 | 60 | -31 |
| 4 to 19 | Westfield Arts College | n/a | 209 | 182 | n/a | -27 |
| 3 to 19 | Mountjoy School | 86 | 93 | 93 | 60 | -33 |
| 2 to 19 | Yewstock School | 149 | 160 | 160 | 160 | 0 |
| 4 to 19 | Beaucroft Foundation | 166 | 182 | n/a | 16 | |
| Existing Pupil places using January 2020 Census Data | 715 | 644 | n/a | n/a | ||
| Future Pupil places | 719 | n/a | n/a | |||
| Pupil Place Capacity Data, capacity data calculated using BB104 guidance | 644 | n/a | ||||
| Difference between number on roll and calculated capacity utilizing BB104 guidance | -75 | |||||
| 10 to 14 | The Harbour School, DfE under construction | 21 | n/a | 160 | 160 | 0 |
| 14 to 19 | Future SEN School, proposed DfE development | 0 | n/a | 75 | 75 | 0 |
| PUPIL capacity totals | 736 | 954 | 879 | -75 | ||
A review was carried out in 2018 to assess the pressure and demand for places in specialist provision across the county for children with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) including all types of education, from mainstream schools, who cater for children of all levels of need, to Resourced Provision and special schools where our most complex children are educated.
Part of this work identified the need to expand Resourced Provision in mainstream, helping to reduce demand for as many external and internal special school places in the future and Special Schools in Dorset, which cater for children with complex needs. This work led to 82 additional Resourced Provision places, and an additional 194 places in Special Schools in Dorset, which ensured more children could continue to be educated close to their family, home and community.
At present, CCN bases have provision for 63 places for children and young people that are experiencing significant communication difficulties impacting on social interaction and social inclusion.
There will be evidence of:
Existing CCN bases cost approximately £1.2m and are funded from the High Needs Block. CCN bases are part of the wider strategy for keeping children in mainstream schools. Increasing provision on mainstream sites for a whole range of provision is desirable as this helps to sustain children in long-term sustainable places. Therefore, an ongoing strategy of working closely with schools to identify where we can support this is key to ensuring that progression opportunities are available.
| Existing CCN Bases, on site and operational | Schools | Existing | Future | Age Range |
| Dorcester West | Damers First | 10 | 10 | 4 to 9 |
| Dorchester West | Puddletone Middle | 5 | 10 | 9 to 13 |
| Ferndown East | Parley First | 10 | 10 | 4 to 9 |
| Ferndown East | West Moors Middle | 10 | 10 | 9 to 13 |
| Gillingham North | Gillingham Primary | 9 | 14 | 4 to 11 |
| Current CNN Base totals | 53 | 63 | n/a | |
Dorset AP schools support children and young people with behaviour and learning difficulty, including those with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) primary needs.
| School Name | Published admission capacity (PAC) | Existing number of rolls including dual registered pupils from Janaury 2020 census | Spare AP in Dorset against PACs | Age Range in Years |
| AP, behaviour, Pupil total | 193 | 188 | 5 | n/a |
| The Forum Centre, Behaviour | 30 | 57 | -11 | 5 to 16 |
| The Forum Centre, Specialist Resource Provision (SRP) for Pupils with Social, emotional and Mental Health Needs | 16 | |||
| Dorchester Learning Centre, Behaviour | 43 | 58 | 9 | 5 to 16 |
| Dorchester Learning Centre, SRP for Pupils with Social, emotional and Mental Health Needs | 24 | |||
| The Compass, Behaviour | 40 | 52 | 12 | 11 to 16 |
| The Compass, SRP for Pupils with Social, emotional and Mental Health Needs | 24 | |||
| Harbour Vale School, Behaviour | 32 | 21 | 11 | 11 to 16 |
| Kingfisher Ward at Dorset County Hospital, Health | 8 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Note, Kingfisher Ward is located within Dorset County Hospital. The centre is linked to Dorchester Learning Centre and helps children with complex medical and health needs whilst in hospital.
| Pupils with EHC Plan | Pupils with No EHC Plan but with SEN | Pupils with no special provision | Pupil totals | |||
| with EHC Plan | % all Pupils | with SEN support | % all Pupils | No special provision | % all pupils | |
| 64 | 43% | 69 | 46% | 16 | 11% | 149 |
| 1 | 33% | 31 | 67% | 0 | 0% | 46 |
| 14 | ||||||
| 2 | 33% | 14 | 67% | 7 | 0% | 42 |
| 19 | ||||||
| 8 | 59% | 17 | 39% | 1 | 2% | 44 |
| 18 | ||||||
| 2 | 12% | 7 | 41% | 8 | 47% | 17 |
Pupils with physical disabilities should be educated at their local school. However, for some pupils with mainstream ability but with complex physical disabilities often associated with additional medical needs, there are 3 PD Bases in mainstream schools in the Dorchester area. All three bases are commissioned for up to 10 places each and are in the Dorchester area due to close proximity of the 3 schools to Dorset County Hospital.
| Existing PD Bases, on site and operational | n/a | Existing | Future | Age Range |
| Dorset | Prince of Wales First | 10 | 10 | 4 to 19 |
| Dorset | Dorchester Middle | 10 | 10 | 9 to 13 |
| Dorset | Thomas Hardye Upper | 10 | 10 | 13 to 18 |
| Current PD Base Totals: | 30 | 30 | n/a | |
To ensure there is appropriate capacity in the system in the relevant areas, Dorset Council regularly engages in consultation and discussion with a range of local stakeholders and will look to use the existing capacity within the system to address the basic need of providing enough school places.
Dorset Council will regularly undertake options appraisals, to establish the viability of any projects, and works with local councillors, community groups, and others to ensure there is the most appropriate and cost-effective solution to providing local education for children.
The Council have increased local specialist places and provision over the past three years by 227 places:
There are two schemes which have been approved by the Department for Education and will add capacity to Dorset’s special school provision over the next 2 to 3 years.
The Harbour School on completion will be a 160 place ambulant Special School catering predominately for pupils with ASC and SEMH between the ages of 10 to 14 years. The project is currently under construction and operating from a smaller temporary building.
This school is intended to be a 75 place ambulant Special School catering for a wide range of needs such as MLD / SLD & ASC for young people aged 14 to 19 years. An existing building has been identified and the Department for Education have initiated feasibility study to assess scheme.
There are several of schemes ranging from high level proposals which have been presented by our schools, to more detailed projects where a feasibility study has been undertaken and indicative schemes and costs are available.
Current position
Beaucroft School is currently 166 place Outstanding 4 to 19 Foundation Special School serving children and young people with EHCPs with a range of needs, primarily:
Summary of proposal
The proposal is to increase their capacity by up to 75 additional places
| Feasibility study complete? | No |
| Timescale to complete a feasibility study | 3 months, subject to resourcing |
| Cost of delivery | Subject to feasibility study |
| Complexity of delivery | Medium |
Current Position
Mountjoy School 93 place Good 3 to 19 Community Special School serving children and young people with EHCPs with a range of needs, primarily:
Summary of proposal
The proposal is to increase the capacity of the school; however, the additional places would need to be determined through the feasibility study.
| Feasibility study complete? | No |
| Timescale to complete a feasibility study | 3 months, subject to resourcing |
| Cost of delivery | Subject to feasibility study |
| Complexity of delivery | High, site not owned by Dorset Council |
Current position
Westfield Arts College is a 209 place Outstanding 4 to 19 Foundation Special School serving children and young people with EHCPs with a range of needs, primarily:
Summary of proposal
The proposal is to increase the capacity of the site by moving sixth form provision off site and expanding the other year groups. The additional places would need to be determined through the feasibility study.
| Feasibility study complete? | No |
| Timescale to complete a feasibility study | 3 months, subject to resourcing |
| Cost of delivery | Subject to feasibility study |
| Complexity of delivery | Medium |
Current position
Wyvern School is an 87 place Good 2 to 19 Special Academy serving children and young people with EHCPs with a range of needs, primarily:
Summary of proposal
The proposed extension to the school would have increased capacity in the Early Years provision by an additional 16 places.
| Feasibility study complete? | Yes |
| Timescale to complete a feasibility study | n/a |
| Cost of delivery | £1.7m to £2m |
| Complexity of delivery | High (potential planning issues and consideration of shared land) |
Current position
Yewstock School is a 160 place Outstanding 2 to 19 Community Special School serving children and young people with EHCPs with a range of needs, primarily:
Summary of proposal
The proposal is to increase the capacity of the site by moving sixth form provision off site and expanding the other year groups. The additional places would need to be determined through the feasibility study.
| Feasibility study complete? | no |
| Timescale to complete a feasibility study | 3 months, subject to resourcing |
| Cost of delivery | Subject to feasibility study |
| Complexity of delivery | High |
When the recommendation was agreed in April 2018 by Dorset County Council to establish CCN bases an initial capital allocation of £2.094m was set aside to create 8 bases. However, as the programme has progressed it has become evident that that sum was insufficient to deliver all the proposed projects. Of the 8 referred to in the 2018 report only 4 have been delivered, with 2 more being provided through repurposing existing specialist base provision with minimal capital investment at two additional sites. To complete the initial provision of the 8 bases identified additional capital funding would be required.
The cost for the provision at Gillingham School is estimated to be in the region of £690,000, as is the cost for the provision at Bincombe Valley Primary School in Weymouth. Similar costs could be expected for the Secondary provision in the East as well as the Secondary provision in Weymouth. Funding for the Bincombe Valley scheme was part of an approved capital bid in 2020, so funding has already been identified to support this project, so additional funding of approximately £1.8m would be required to complete the original planned schemes.
The potential need for additional bases has subsequently been identified in the West of the County as well as the Purbeck area. Schools would need to be identified to host this additional provision but a further capital allocation of approximately c. £2m depending on the complexity of each scheme, may be required to provide those facilities.
Without completing the provision in the Gillingham and East Dorset school pyramids there is a gap in provision for those pupils who currently benefit from the CCN provision in the Primary phase of their education.
Once the expansion of existing provision has been exhausted and other means of meeting need have been considered the only way to continue to meet increasing demand would be to provide additional new capacity. This could through new provision on potentially new sites or existing authority owned sites.
In terms of capital investment required for new provision, benchmarking data is available in the National School Delivery Cost Benchmarking report in June 2019, which is a study undertaken by Hampshire CC in conjunction with East Riding of Yorkshire Council and the Department for Education. Dorset County Council were also a participant in the survey.
The benchmark data shows that the average gross cost m2 for SEND provision, either through new build or extensions to existing buildings is £2,821 excluding VAT, with the average cost per pupil place being £65,739. Therefore, an indicative cost for a 280 place all through SEN provision, with a floor area of approx 5251 square meters, based on BB104 guidelines, could cost between £14.8m based on the benchmark figure of £2,821/square meters and £18.4m based on the average cost per pupil place benchmarking figure. Individual project costs will vary depending on size and complexity of school to be provided, in terms of need. They would need to be determined through the completion of a feasibility study to take such matters intoaccount along with site costs and site development issues, such as sloping or constrained sites.
The Council has a need for more SEND provision to meet the needs of the existing SEND cohort, which is demonstrated by the significant in-year deficit in the High Needs Block and cohort analysis.
Much of this demand can be delivered through the expansion of existing provision through capital investment or identification of alternative sites from which provision can be delivered, such as sixth form provision.
However, the Council may choose to expand provision through the creation of a new specialist provision.
The future growth of the cohort, which is unlikely to slow in line with both regional and national trends may further increase the demand for provision through an EHCP in Dorset.
The Council strategy should be informed by three key conditions:
This strategy was last reviewed in 2020.
The next expected review date is 2025
