20th January 2025
Dear Parents/Carers, Staff and other interested parties
Consultation on the Proposed Development of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Hubs in Mainstream Schools
We are pleased to inform you that Castle Wood Academy has been offered the opportunity to develop, in partnership with Lincolnshire County Council, an enhanced provision for children and young people with SEND. We are seeking to develop a mainstream SEND Hub (also known as a mainstream SEND Units as per Annex C of the referenced document[1]) for Key Stage 1 or 2 in our setting, providing enhanced educational support for pupils with SEND who are best educated in a mainstream school.
Proposal
Since 2019, Lincolnshire County Council has been implementing the “Building Communities of Specialist Provision Strategy”, which has provided major improvements to educational provision for the very small cohort of children and young people with special additional needs and disabilities that require special school provision. However, for the majority of children and young people with SEND, mainstream schools offer a high-quality education in an inclusive and encouraging environment, where pupils can achieve the best outcomes possible, with access to a rich and wide curriculum. For most children and young people with SEND, being educated in a mainstream setting with enhanced support is the right type of education and therefore we are keen to develop provision that can meet this ambition.
Lincolnshire County Council have asked Castle Wood Academy to develop, in partnership, a new type of provision called “Mainstream SEND Hub”. These provisions will be aimed at supporting children and young people with additional needs to be educated and have their needs met in a mainstream school, with enhanced facilities, by knowledgeable and skilled staff. The Mainstream SEND Hub will be part of the mainstream school, providing an enhanced educational offer for pupils with SEND in the mainstream setting.
The SEND Hub will be for pupils with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans and will provide a level of provision between mainstream and special education. Access to the SEND Hub will be through the formalised Education, Health and Care (EHC) Needs Assessment or EHC plan Annual Review route, managed by the Local Authority. The Local Authority will agree and name the mainstream school through the SEND Code of Practice consultation process, with the designation of a Mainstream SEND Hub named in the pupils’ EHC plan, if deemed the most appropriate type of setting. All pupils will be on the host school’s roll and will be included regularly in the school day, in accordance with individual need.
Each approved host school will facilitate either one or two classrooms within the SEND Hub, with a maximum of two classrooms per school. Each classroom will have capacity for up to 10 places commissioned by the Local Authority via the formalised EHC route, along with up to 3 places available for the host school to utilise at their discretion, for all or part of the school day.
SEND Hubs are being collaboratively developed with each host school and therefore the offer may vary depending on school preference, capacity within the school and local demand. Hubs may consist of formally agreed provision for Key Stage 1 & 2 within primary schools and Key Stage 3 & 4 within secondary schools, or they may offer only one key stage which will move through the school with the cohort of allocated pupils. This will be decided with the individual school.
All Lincolnshire schools have been approached with the offer of setting up a SEND Hub and following a series of discussions, 11 primary schools and three secondary schools have been identified as suitable for the first wave of this initiative. We are very excited with our clear inclusive ethos and approach to supporting children and young people to be one of these schools and part of this journey.
Our school will receive funding which will cover the full costs of facilitating the SEND Hub, including the following staffing levels per classroom:
One Qualified Teacher
- Two Teaching Assistants
- One Intervention Worker
- Enhanced Leadership Time
- Enhanced SENDCo Time
- Additional Midday Supervisor Time
- Additional Learning Resources
Our school will be provided with an enhanced level of training and the offer of specialist support from special schools to meet the needs of pupils with SEND. A robust training offer has been developed for all host schools including training for Governors/Trustees, Senior Leadership, Teaching and Non-teaching staff and all staff specifically working in the SEND Hubs.
Should this initiative be agreed, we are intending to complete the capital works required during the summer holiday as to reduce disruption to our school and pupils. More information will be published once a final decision is made and more detail is known.
These proposals have the potential to make a significant, positive change to future provision for pupils with special educational and disability needs across Lincolnshire and in our local community. Please take time to let us know what you think.
Have your say
Please visit the school website for more information regarding this proposal at https://castlewoodacademy.eschools.co.uk/web/send_hub_consultation/704532/cHJldmlld3x8MjAyNS0wMS0yMCAxMzo0NTo1NQ%3D%3D
Alternatively, you can read more about Mainstream SEND Hubs on the County Council’s consultation pages under the FAQ section. www.letstalk.lincolnshire.gov.uk
We welcome your comments on this proposal which will need to be submitted by Monday 10th February 2025. If you would like to discuss these proposals further before responding, then please contact trust@talloaksacademy.co.uk with the subject ‘SEND Hub’.
Responses can be submitted by completing this form https://forms.gle/SKvV68C7RqsnBhPc9
Yours sincerely
Mrs S Wilson, CEO, Tall Oaks Academy Trust
Miss M Ryan, Headteacher, Castle Wood Academy
Mrs A Willis, Inclusion Leader and SENDCo, Tall Oaks Academy Trust
