Rotherham Borough Council SEND Sufficiency
25th March 2024
In 2018 Rotherham MBC approved 3 phases of SEND Sufficiency, each one targeted at addressing incremental rises in SEND cohorts and creating or improving specialist education provision in order that Rotherham is best placed to have education provision within the borough that meets the needs of all children, young people, and young adults with identified SEND needs.
Phase 1 focused on increasing special school places in the Borough as indicated by the rapid growth in demand for all specialist provision. This led to increases in places at:
Abbey School
Kelford School
The Willows School (including post-16 provision)
Phase 2 focused on the need for more targeted provision for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and led to the following developments:
Increased places at Milton School
Investment for post-16 provision at Thomas Rotherham College
New Units at Wath Victoria School and Wales School
Phase 3 created specialist provision for children and young people with Social Emotional Mental Health needs who were previously placed in Pupil Referral Units. This led to:
The continued re-development of Newman School through significant investment in rebuilding the upper part of Newman Special School which was no longer fit for the purpose of education delivery
The opening of Elements Academy in September 2022.
In March 2022 Rotherham MBC entered into a Safety Valve Agreement with the DfE. The key aim set out within the Safety Valve agreement is to enhance mainstream SEND capacity to meet a wider level of need across all schools and mitigate the need for children, young people, and young adults to be educated in settings outside the borough and promote inclusive practice. The Safety Valve Agreement is in place until 2026/2026 and forms part of Rotherham MBC’s SEND Sufficiency Phases 4 and 5
Phase 4 focus is to work closely with schools within the borough and the DfE to create 10 additional SEND resource base within mainstream education settings, this would create a minimum of 100 additional SEND places over the next 3 academic years.
Phase 4 is also supporting School Access Issues, in both Mainstream Schools and Special Schools, with the creation of accessibility funding streams. Schools can apply for capital investment to adapt buildings, classrooms, or other education buildings so that children with a higher threshold of SEND can be accommodated. The focus of this investment is to support schools to be inclusive to a wider level of needs then they can currently accommodate.
For more information about the SEND Sufficiency process and updates please follow this link to the local offer website
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