15^th March 2024

Dear parents/carers

Consultation on Proposal to Establish a Resource Base

If you need this document in a different format or language, please contact the school consultation team on 01392 382057 or via email: schoolconsultations@devon.gov.uk

Proposal

Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust is consulting on a proposal to establish from September 2024:

• a resource base for up to eight learners with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs at Okehampton Primary School

Background

Increasing resource base provision is part of a county-wide strategy by Devon County Council in response to the demand for increased special educational needs provision and to enhance the inclusive capacity of mainstream schools. 

A resource base supports learners whose needs can be met in a mainstream setting but who require a specialist environment and support within the school.  Pupils are supported within this environment with an Education Health and Care Plan, small class sizes and high staffing ratios. Their plan will also support their involvement in larger classes within the school according to the needs and progress of the pupil.  Our aim is to enable pupils to fulfil their potential to successfully access part or all of the curriculum within the mainstream school. 

Evidence of need

Devon has one of the lowest percentages of learners accessing resourced provision in comparison to its statistical neighbours and is lower than the national average.  Alongside this, Devon has seen a significant increase in the number of children and young people with Education and Health Care Plans (EHCP) in recent years.

This proposal will ensure a better offer for children and young people that is local and suitable to their needs.  The proposal will support more children with special educational needs to be educated and thrive in their local school and community, facilitating better access to the curriculum and avoiding the need for children to travel to an appropriate school further away.

Okehampton Primary Proposal

The proposed resource base at Okehampton Primary School would support children and young people with a primary need of social, emotional and mental health needs with an EHCP.  Children with social, emotional and mental health needs can struggle to engage with learning and to cope in a classroom without additional strategies and interventions. It is proposed that the base would open from September 2024 for up to eight learners. 

Existing suitable space at the primary school has been identified for the resource base. The published admission number of the school will remain the same and will not be impacted by this proposal.

Costs and Expenditure

It is estimated that the capital costs of establishing the resource base at Okehampton Primary School will be in the region of £150,000.

Revenue funding from Devon County Council is in place to support this proposal.

Admission to the Resource Base

To be considered for a place in a resource base, the child or young person must have an EHCP. Should the creation of the resource base be agreed, it is the local authority 0-25 SEN team who will allocate places in the base, in consultation with the Trust.

Consultation and decision-making process

This consultation on the proposal will take place from 15^th March to 29^th April 2024. There will be a consultation evening on 27^th March 2024. This will be an opportunity to hear about the proposal and ask any questions that you may have.

The Academy Trust will make an application, through the submission of a business case for the proposal, to the Department for Education’s (DfE) Southwest Region’s Group. The business case application will include the outcome of the consultation.

It is the regional directors of the DfE’s Southwest Region’s Group who will consider the applications and outcome of the consultations and decide whether to approve the establishment of the resource base.

Responding to the consultation

Comments can be made to Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust either by:

Email: resourcebaseconsultation@dmatschools.org.uk

By post to: Wardhayes, Simmonds way, Okehampton, EX20 1PU

Please note that all responses must be received by 29^th April 2024

All responses to the consultation will be considered and will be shared with the school’s leadership team, board of directors and trustees. Responses will also be shared with Devon County Council and the regional director’s office at the DfE, but we will not send individual responses to any specific points made.

Yours faithfully

Elizabeth Underwood

Executive Principal