Maidenhead & Windsor

Children with disabilities could benefit from a brand new, purpose-built school in the Maidenhead Royal Borough within the next three years.

A proposal going to next week's Maidenhead cabinet (Thursday November 23) would open the door to a wide-ranging public consultation that could bring about a new era in education – not only benefiting pupils with special educational needs but also bringing additional value for young people attending mainstream schools.

An opportunity has arisen to make a submission through the government's Building Schools for the Future: One School Pathfinder initiative and the signs are that the borough will at last be able to afford to rebuild its special School – Holyport Manor, Maidenhead.

Following a detailed options appraisal the proposal is to site the new school with access off Cannon Lane in the heart of an existing 'education community' in Cox Green.

Land not currently used by Cox Green and Lowbrook schools is available and this proposal would enable the continued development of links between the schools as well as providing a wider range of facilities for both pupils and the local community. Preliminary discussions have taken place with the chairs of governors and headteachers of Holyport Manor, Cox Green and Lowbrook schools, with all three giving their support in principle.

Cllr Mary Rose Gliksten, Maidenhead council leader, said: "We have an unbeatable opportunity to provide a state-of-the-art education centre of excellence and we are committed to making the best possible use of the funding available for the benefit of pupils and staff. To do this we need to get the views of parents, governors and staff as well as the wider community and we will hold a comprehensive consultation to find out what people think about this exciting plan for children with disabilities in our borough."

Cannon Lane was one of three options explored to find the best way of using the government funding. The others were: to refurbish the existing Holyport Manor school, Maidenhead, but investigations showed that his would simply not meet the future educational needs of the pupils and staff; and to rebuild on the current site but this would cause major disruption to the pupils and could not be completed in time to meet the government's deadline for the money to be spent (in the 2009-2010 school year).

The new, fully-accessible school would:

* maintain places for 150 pupils
* allow more children to be educated closer to home than is currently the case
* include a residential unit as now
* potentially offer respite provision for children whose parents need help with their care.

Cllr Cynthia Pitteway, lead member for Maidenhead education, said: "The council has a long-held ambition to improve provision for children with special needs in our borough and this is our chance to get it right. Holyport Manor pupils now and in the future deserve the best and we are delighted to be able to put forward a plan that has the prospect of providing exactly that."

Cllr Kathy Newbound, lead member for Maidenhead children's and young people's services, said: "The borough's Children's and Young People's Plan makes it clear that we must strive to improve life chances for all children if they are to achieve the highest possible standards. The plan also underlines the need for development of local provision so that children with complex needs can be educated closer to home. By providing a new Holyport Manor at Cannon Lane we will fulfil both of these priorities with fantastic benefits for children and their families."

Consultation process
If the proposal for the Cannon Lane option is given cabinet agreement it would signal the start of a public consultation with parents and staff of all the schools concerned, parish councils, local residents and community groups, partner organisations such as the primary care trust, voluntary organisations such as Mencap and with neighbouring local authorities that use Holyport Manor. Alongside the consultation there will be a submission to the Department for Education and Skills to secure funding.

Following the public consultation:

* a further report would be taken to cabinet
* if cabinet approved, the new school proposal would be published as a formal statutory notice, allowing two months for comments and objections
* if there were no objections cabinet could take the decision to proceed
* if there were objections the matter would be decided by the local independent school organisation committee (SOC), which must give unanimous support
* if the SOC could not agree, the final decision would be taken by the government's schools adjudicator.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead