KENT COUNTY COUNCIL
EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Directorate:
Education Learning & Skills
Name of policy, procedure, project or service
Proposal to transfer Bower Grove (Special) School Secondary satellite provision to St Augustine Academy, and redesignation of the number of pupils admitted to Bower Grove.
What is being assessed?
Project
Responsible Owner/ Senior Officer
Jared Nehra, Area Education Officer – West Kent
Date of Initial Screening
October 2013
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Screening Grid
Characteristic / Could this policy, procedure, project or service affect this group less favourably than others in Kent? YES/NOIf yes how? / Assessment of potential impact
HIGH/MEDIUM
LOW/NONE
UNKNOWN / Provide details:
a) Is internal action required? If yes what?
b) Is further assessment required? If yes, why? / Could this policy, procedure, project or service promote equal opportunities for this group?
YES/NO - Explain how good practice can promote equal opportunities
Positive / Negative
Age / No / High / None / Yes. Positive as the additional places will mean that more families and children will benefit from the specialist facilities provided by the school.
Disability / No. The satellite provision is fully compliant with the Equality Act 2010. / High / None / Yes.
Gender / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A
Gender identity / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A
Race / No / High / None / Yes.
Religion or belief / No. / High / None / N/A / Yes.
Sexual orientation / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A
Pregnancy and maternity / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A
Marriage and Civil Partnerships / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A
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Part 1: INITIAL SCREENING
Context
Bower Grove is a special school that caters for pupils with behaviour and learning needs. Most pupils have behavioural, emotional and social difficulties or autistic spectrum disorders.
The school has two satellite provisions; one based at Westborough Primary School, one secondary based in St Augustine Academy. There are two aspects to this proposal – to transfer the secondary satellite from Bower Grove School to the Academy to create a new mainstream resource based provision; and to increase the designated number of Bower Grove School.
Bower Grove School is currently designated to admit 146 children which includes the main building and both satellite provisions. Since 2009 the school has had around 200 children on roll and the school’s designated number needs to be changed formally to better reflect reality. Therefore we propose to change the designated number to 183 (if the proposal to transfer the secondary satellite to St Augustine Academy is agreed) or 195 if the transfer is not agreed.
The intended date for transfer is September 2014. From this date the Academy would be commissioned by the LA, via a Service Level Agreement, to provide a specialist resourced provision for at least 12 pupils with ASD.
The Headteacher of Bower Grove School and the Principal of St Augustine Academy are currently working together to develop arrangements for future joint working and support for pupils with ASD.
A TUPE consultation will be undertaken. Staff employed at Bower Grove School, whose main role is providing the education and support to the pupils currently in the Bower Grove satellite provision, will be transferred from LA employment to the Woodard Academies Trust.
Aims and Objectives
§ The project is for the provision of school places for students with a Statement of Special Educational Needs and aims to improve the health, well being and attainment of the students.
§ Background documents are:
o Kent’s Commissioning Plan for Education Provision 2012-17
o Bold Steps for Kent
o Kent’s Strategy for Special Education Needs and Disability
§ The project proposes to transfer the satellite provision from Bower Grove School to St Augustine Academy to create a new mainstream resource based provision with effect from 1 September 2014.
Beneficiaries
§ Children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disability and their families, especially those children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders.
§ The Local Authority
Consultation and data
§ The data used in the project is published data on pupil numbers, school performance data and data relating to children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
§ The number of pupils in Kent with statements identifying ASD as their primary need has grown from 1361 to 2297 between 2009 and 2013. There has been an increasing reliance upon Independent and Out of County placements by KCC to meet pupils’ needs, up from 340 in 2009 to 470 in 2013. A significant proportion of these will be to accommodate children and young people with ASD, Behavioural needs and Communication needs as a consequence of Kent’s schools being full.
§ 44.9% of the students at Bower Grove School are eligible for Free School Meals, which is higher than the national average (35.8%).
§ According to the final and validated 2012 RAISEonline report the largest group (93.3%) in Bower Grove school are pupils from white British backgrounds The school has a lower than average percentage of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds. There are no pupils recorded who speak English as an additional language.
The Community
For more detail on the community visit –
http://www.kent.gov.uk/your_council/kent_facts_and_figures/area_profiles.aspx
Proposed Consultation
· Local knowledge and discussions with the education community.
Parents and Carers
· There has been a meeting with parents and carers. All families have been offered the opportunity for one to one discussions to look at their preferences and the needs of their children before the end of the consultation period.
· In liaison with the families with children in the satellite, and those seeking admission for September 2014, KCC will also undertake annual reviews to amend the named provision to St Augustine Academy with effect from 1 September 2014, or earlier with agreement of parents.
Public
· A public consultation on the proposed transfer of the satellite provision and the change of designated number of Bower Grove School will take place from 11 September 2013 to 21 October 2013. There will be a public meeting on 1 October 2013. If, following consultation, the Cabinet Member agrees to continue with the proposal a Public Notice will be issued in January 2014 for a six week period. The proposed transfer of the satellite provision would be confirmed by March 2014.
Staff
· Consultation will be undertaken with staff and their respective professional associations according to agreed policy and procedure.
Potential Impact
Adverse Impact:
No adverse impacts have been identified at this stage; however the consultation will enable the Local Authority to test out these assumptions.
Positive Impact:
Some positive impacts identified are:
· An increase in the total number of places available for children and young people with Behaviour and Learning needs and/or Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
JUDGEMENT
Option 1 – Screening Sufficient YES/NO
Justification:
Option 2 – Internal Action Required YES/NO
§ Following this initial screening our judgement is that the statutory Public Consultation that will be undertaken will highlight any unknown issues and if necessary, will initiate a further EIA
Option 3 – Full Impact Assessment YES/NO
Equality and Diversity Team Comments
Sign Off
I have noted the content of the equality impact assessment and agree the actions to mitigate the adverse impact(s) that have been identified.
Senior Officer
Signed: Name:
Job Title: Date:
DMT Member
Signed: Name:
Job Title: Date:
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Equality Impact Assessment Action Plan
Protected Characteristic / Issues identified / Action to be taken / Expected outcomes / Owner / Timescale / Cost implications6
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