Island MP Bob Seely has written to Kelly Tolhurst, Minister for Schools and Childhood at the Department for Education, to highlight the Island’s bid for a new Special Educational Needs (SEN) school. The bid calls for an SEN school on the Isle of Wight to give every child on the Island direct access to a quality education.
Seely said that the number of children with Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) had increased since the Children and Families Act 2014. The act introduced EHCPs to improve the delivery of health, social care and special educational needs services.
Seely said that the increase in education plans has made it “increasingly challenging” to serve the Island’s children. The answer, he said, is a Special Educational Needs school.
Seely continued: “We currently only have two maintained special schools on the Island, and both are now full. This means that, increasingly, the local authority is having to place children in more expensive independent placements. On the Island we have an additional issue, in that if we have to commission independent places on the mainland then this inevitably means long ‘travel to learn’ journeys that are difficult for young people with special needs, or an increased use of residential placements.”
Regarding the Council’s bid, Seely said that the provision of a new Special Educational Needs school on the Island is essential to meeting the Island’s ambitions. “Our forecasting model shows that we have the need for a 75-place all through school for children and young people with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs and Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC). Without it we will increasingly have to place children off-Island,” he wrote.
Seely congratulated the Isle of Wight Council on its work to date and for the bid. Seely said: “I have been working closely with the council, we will have meetings as soon as possible with Ministers. I will be stressing to education officials that a new SEN school is vital for both specialist education on the Island and all education on the Island. This will help us to give kids the support they need.”
Seely also expressed his gratitude to all those involved, saying: “Thank you to our education officials for their brilliant support.”
Earlier this week, Seely wrote to Secretary of State for Education, Kit Malthouse, asking for an update on funding that the Island is set to receive as part of the government’s Education Investment Area scheme and enquiring about the possibility of the Island being included in the ‘Priority Education Investment Area’ scheme.
The Isle of Wight Council have previously won £800,000 of Special Educational Needs funding.
In addition, Bob Seely MP has helped secure funding for a number of other education projects for the Island: In April 2021, IW College was one of 16 areas to receive a portion of the £1.5 billion Further Education Capital Transformation Fund.
In December 2021, IW College was included in an Institute for Technology scheme for the Solent area, enabling collaboration between further education providers, universities and employers. The scheme allowed IW College access to funding in the region of £2 million, which they are using to upgrade their facilities.
IW College also received £25 million in government investment, allowing them to transform their facilities and enabling them to offer new qualifications, including T-levels. The College also received permission to adopt the title ‘University Centre Isle of Wight’, in recognition of its university-level courses in areas including business, engineering, early years education and teacher training.
Immediately after entering Parliament, Seely successfully campaigned against the closure of Sandown school.
Seely concluded his letter to the education minister by saying: “I hope that you are able to support the Isle of Wight Council’s bid to create a new special school on the Isle of Wight in order to help the Council achieve the ambitions of the Department for Education’s Safety Valve programme.”
