Consultation on the proposed change of Corley Centre from Day/Residential Special School to Day Special School

This consultation has ended.

Cabinet approved this proposal at the Cabinet meeting of 13 March 2012, after due consideration of the options and proposal contained in the report, matters referred to at the meeting, and the briefing note from the Cabinet Advisory Panel (School Organisation).

Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee concurred with this decision at their meeting on 4 April 2012 so the Cabinet decision is now effective and the change of designation of Corley Centre to a day community secondary special school is due to be implemented from 1 September 2012.

Proposal that the designation of Corley Centre is changed from day and residential special school to day special school

The Corley Centre is currently designated as a Day and Residential Special School for 72 secondary aged pupils with complex social and communication needs - principally for children and young people diagnosed as having Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It is proposed that Corley Centre will be redesignated as a Day Secondary Special School only.

The residential provision dates from the time when the school was an 'open air' school for children with respiratory health difficulties. The school then became a school for children with moderate learning difficulties (MLD) and the size of the residential provision was reduced to its current 27 places. In September 2007, Corley Centre admitted its first intake of pupils with ASD.  The final MLD Year group left in July 2011 so from September 2011 the school will provide solely for pupils with ASD in all year groups.  The development of Corley for pupils with ASD is part of the Local Authority's Inclusion and Special Education Needs (SEN) Strategy to ensure a continuum of provision in the city.

The number of pupils formally assessed as requiring residential provision has significantly reduced because of the changed nature of the provision at the school and other developments of residential provision in the city.  In 1999/2000 there were 12 residential pupils which reduced to none by 2006/2007. 

The only current use of the residential facility is for social and independence training involving overnight stays for some of the students.  In the 2010/11 school year this involved 19 students with the majority of them staying for one night per week and a maximum of 8 residential places being used at any one time. The Local Authority currently funds the centre for 27 residential places.

Eligible students not attending Corley are able to access social and independence training through the central short breaks service provided by Children's Disability Team (CDT).  Eligible students at Corley are able to access residential provision including some social and independence training through the Central Short Breaks programme provided by CDT and also residential provision at Corley.  Students at Corley don't necessarily have a higher level of need for residential provision than other Coventry children and young people with SEN and disability.  Therefore there is an issue of equity and equality of opportunity because residential provision at Corley is not being offered to any other children and young people at other Special Schools or with similar needs across the city.

The residential provision carries high overall fixed costs (approximately £384K in 2010/11) and the low utilisation of the 27 residential places results in a high unit cost.  These high costs results in a disproportionate level of funding being directed towards this provision at a time when there are significant pressures in other areas of funding for children and young people with SEN & disability.  Funding released from the redesignation, if it were to go ahead, would remain allocated for provision for Coventry's pupils with SEN and disability across the city. In the medium term, funding would be used for broad spectrum special schools - special schools that meet a wide range of SEN and disability.  In the longer term, funding would be used to provide support for pupils with significant levels of SEN and disability in mainstream schools. 

The option of reducing, rather than removing, the capacity of the residential provision has been considered.  This option is not thought to be viable because the fixed costs of the residential provision would continue, significantly reducing the financial benefits and so redesignation is recommended as the preferred option.
In light of the above recommendation, Cabinet Member for Education has approved that a consultation be held with those affected on a proposal to change the designation of the Corley Centre from a Day/Residential Secondary Special School to a Day Secondary Special School.

Further information

You can find out more about the consultation by viewing the following consultation documents:

Minutes from meetings
Consultation Document
A Cabinet Report
Equality Impact Assessment 
Statutory Notice
Complete Notice
Frequently Asked Questions

Contact details

Should you wish to speak to someone regarding this consultation, please use the below contact details:

Emiley Berry
Children and Young People's Directorate
Coventry City Council
Civic Centre 1
Earl Street
Coventry
CV1 5RS

E-mail: Emiley.berry@coventry.gov.uk
Telephone: 024 7683 1550