A mother from Knaresborough fears children’s education at a special needs school will suffer after eight teachers were made redundant.
Kay Heffron’s son Anthony has been at Springwell Harrogate, formerly known as The Grove Academy, for almost two years.
Anthony’s behavioural issues mean he works better in smaller class sizes with more one-to-one attention.
But eight members of staff are leaving at Christmas in the wake of budget cuts and class sizes will increase. It brings the total number of staff lost to 14 in the last two years.
Ms Heffron is worried about the impact of this on the education of her son and other pupils.
She said:
“It will have a long-term impact. He doesn’t want to go back because his favourite teachers are leaving. He will fall back again and his behaviour will likely deteriorate. They will miss out on the education they deserve.
“The teachers were fantastic and always went above and beyond. But now it just isn’t the same because there aren’t as many staff. I’m quite sad that it can’t continue as it was — their education will be affected.”
Ms Heffron’s daughter, Abbie, who has autism, also attended Springwell Harrogate for two years but now goes to another specialist school.
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The school came under the management of Wellspring Academy Trust in April 2020.
The trust has said changes to funding occurred before it took over and it has been restructuring. It added:
“All the changes that have been implemented at Springwell Harrogate are in line with Wellspring’s standard delivery model across the trust and have been proven highly effective in our seven successful alternative academies.
“This includes the adult – pupil ratios that are benchmarked against Department for Education best practice. The ratios at Springwell Harrogate meet the DfE’s recommendations.
“Leaders at the school are always happy to talk with parents and carers who have any concerns and will always consider the individual learning, social and emotional needs of Springwell Harrogate pupils.”
