A group supporting the siblings of disabled children is set to have its first meeting in Harrogate this month.
The Sibling Group is an organisation offering a safe space for children with siblings who are disabled or have special needs. The first event in the area is set to take place January 20 from 10am-12pm at Christ Church.
The group for children aged six to 11 aims to “support their wellbeing and happiness”. The event will include activities and games to build positive relationships.
Grace Williams, founder of The Sibling Group created the organisation to support families who have children and siblings with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
She has a younger brother with special educational needs who is non-verbal, has a learning disability and autism. Grace has become devoted to supporting other families in a similar situation. She has a degree in special education, is pursuing a masters degree in autism and inclusion, and currently works as a specialist key worker for the NHS.
She said
“Growing up there was not much support available and there was a lot of stigma around this. It was very challenging for my family and I, as we had to take on a care giving role and adapt to my brother’s needs very quickly.”
Grace grew up in Harrogate and her brother attends Springwater School. She says that despite the large SEND community in the area she has always been “aware of the lack of support for families”, so when creating The Sibling Group, she “thought it would be a good area to work in.”
“Siblings are not thought about when services are created and offered to families, and I want to change this. Siblings experience extreme stress, isolation and miss out on things other children their age are doing.”
“The Sibling Group offers a safe space for children to come and meet other children with similar experiences. We offer fun activities such as arts and crafts, singing and dancing, sports and games.”
The meetings are free of charge and will be running during the school holidays and on Saturdays. To book a place at the event click here.
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Council to hire contractor for Harrogate school expansion
North Yorkshire Council is set to hire a contractor to expand Springwater School and refurbish Oak Beck House in Harrogate.
The authority will take on the procurement exercise over the next six months.
It comes as senior councillors backed plans to increase the capacity at Springwater School in Starbeck by 45 pupils in February this year.
According to a council report, the work is earmarked to start in August 2024 and is due to be complete by May 2025.
It says:
“The scheme will create additional teaching space at Springwater School, Harrogate and adaptations and refurbishment at Oak Beck House, Harrogate.”
No cost for the work is included in the report.
Springwater School, which is based off High Street, teaches children aged two to 19 with “profound and multiple, severe or physical difficulties”.
At a meeting in February, the council said the move would help to provide “more local, quality in-house special school places” within the county.
As part of the plan, the council intends to spend £3.1 million from its High Needs Provision Capital Allocation, which is granted by government.
Meanwhile, the council also intends to carry out refurbishment work to Oak Beck House on Electric Avenue.
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86% support plans to open autism school in Harrogate
Plans to open a £3.5 million school for children with autism in Harrogate have received strong support in a consultation.
North Yorkshire Council revealed plans in May to open the school for up to 80 pupils aged 11 to 19 on the site of the former Woodfield Community Primary School.
The six-week consultation, which ended on July 24, saw 90 out of the 105 responses – a total of 86 per cent – support the proposal.
Supporters said the site would be “ideal” for providing a safe learning environment, and that a special school was “absolutely necessary”.
But the consultation also highlighted a number of concerns.
Some people were disappointed the school won’t cater for primary school children.
Others asked why the existing special needs school Springwater School in Starbeck was not offered the Woodfield site as a satellite, or why the special education needs Forest School in Knaresborough wasn’t developed.
The school closed in December.
The Conservative-controlled North Yorkshire Council’s executive will discuss the consultation next week.
Cllr Annabel Wilkinson, the council’s executive member for education, learning and skills, said:
“The new facility would help meet a rising demand for special school places in Harrogate, Knaresborough, Ripon and the surrounding area.
“Currently there are 432 children with the primary need of autism accessing existing North Yorkshire special schools and we are committed to providing further support.
“If given the go-head, the redeveloped school would provide children and families with a more local offer of provision that is currently unavailable without significant travel.”
The target opening date for the school is September next year. There are no planned changes to the community library and children’s centre on the same site.
Woodfield Community Primary School closed at the end of December after an “inadequate” rating by Ofsted and a decline in pupil numbers.
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Starbeck special needs school set to get another 45 pupils
North Yorkshire County Council has revealed plans to expand places at Springwater School in Starbeck.
The authority’s executive will discuss plans on Tuesday to create an additional 45 places at the school.
Springwater School, which is based off High Street, teaches children aged two to 19 with “profound and multiple, severe or physical difficulties”.
A report due before councillors says the move would help to provide “more local, quality in-house special school places” within the county.
As part of the plan, the council intends to spend £3.1 million from its High Needs Provision Capital Allocation, which is granted by government.
However, Gary Fielding, strategic director of resources at the council, said in a report it was “disappointing” the amount of funding allocated to the council.
He said:
“Whilst it is appreciated that the Department for Education has prioritised resources to address limited capacity in special schools nationally, it is disappointing that the level of funding allocated to NYCC is the lowest in the country (expressed in terms of £ per pupil aged 2 to 18).”
Senior councillors will make a decision on the proposal at a meeting on February 21.
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Starbeck special needs school rated ‘good’ by Ofsted
Springwater School in Starbeck has been rated ‘good’ in a newly published report by Ofsted.
Government inspectors visited the school, which has 97 pupils aged two to 19, in June.
Their report rates the school as ‘outstanding’ in four of the five areas assessed but the overall assessment is ‘good’.
It says leaders at the school, which has pupils with severe or profound learning difficulties, “have very high expectations of how well staff look after the pupils in their care” and that “pupils are given highly personalised support by a team of very caring staff”.
Personal development was described as exceptionally strong and arrangements for safeguarding effective.
The report adds:
“Staff ensure that pupils are fully included in all aspects of school life.
“The learning atmosphere in school is positive. Pupils, and students in the sixth form, try hard when in class. They are keen to join in and eager to learn new things.
“Pupils demonstrate how much they appreciate learning by laughing and smiling.”
Inspectors say pupils receive ‘highly personalised support’.
Sixth form ‘excellent’
Sixth form provision is described as “excellent”. The inspectors said:
“The sixth form curriculum is very well planned. It prepares students for adulthood very effectively. The curriculum includes life skills such as shopping and cooking, as well as important knowledge about how society works. Students also take courses that lead to accreditation. Students in the sixth form are incredibly positive about their experiences of school.”
Staff and leaders’ “holistic approach to managing behaviour” is described as “extremely effective”.
Headteacher Sarah Edwards said:
“The governors and I are delighted with the outcome of the two-day inspection which was rigorous and professionally challenging, as I am sure you would expect.
“I am so pleased that they captured what we as a team already identified as the strengths of the school and its pupils.”
Ms Edwards said the school had worked hard on “developing and implementing a suitable curriculum designed to meet the very diverse needs of all of our learners” since its last inspection in 2019, which raised “some concerns that standards may be declining”.
Ms Edwards thanked staff and added:
“I remain extremely proud of what Springwater delivers. There are four out of five of the judgements at an outstanding level, and the inspection team identified that ‘the quality of education has improved’.
“I am confident that the report and inspection experience captured our strengths brilliantly.
“Springwater is a brilliant place where children thrive and in turn the dedicated staff team have an enormous satisfaction in seeing children and young people flourish regardless of the special educational needs.”
Ms Edwards added there was “an extremely high demand for pupil places at this popular and over subscribed special school”, adding:
“As a result, there continue to be vacancies in support roles and the school would love to hear from any member of the community who would be willing to volunteer, to support pupils to access learning activities and community visits.”
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