Children at a special school who face being moved 14 miles away are going to be “pushed out with no choice at all”, according to a concerned father.
A consultation will be launched on the viability of students with special educational needs and disability (SEND) at Bank View School on Long Lane relocating to Parklands in Speke as Liverpool Council attempts to address the “dramatic increase” in young people with education health and care plans (EHCP).
Alan Osborne’s son George, who has autism spectrum disorder, attends Bank View and Mr Osborne has expressed concern that moving the children across the city could have a detrimental effect on their wellbeing and education, claiming they will “suffer” as a result.
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He said: “As far as we can gather, this could be two or three years away.
“We’ve seen a draft of what could happen.
“The poor children will face upheaval right in the middle of their academic careers, in the middle of everything that’s going on right now.
“They’re going to suffer, there’s no choice for these children.
“There's nothing in the North end of Liverpool, it doesn’t seem important to the politicians because it’s only affecting a small number of children, there won’t be an outcry.”
A non-statutory engagement exercise will be launched with stakeholders over the future of three city special schools and pupil referral units after Liverpool Council’s cabinet gave its approval to proposals last week.
The consultation will consider moving Princes School on Selborne Street to Redbridge School on Long Lane, while Redbridge would move into Bank View as they occupy the same site.
It will also seek to assess the viability of New Heights Key Stage 4 site relocating from Parklands to the vacant school premises on Naylorsfield Drive.
Mr Osborne, of Fazakerley, told the ECHO that moving his son, 12, and their classmates would not be fair as transferring to a nearby mainstream school was not an option available to them.
He said: “This will impact the structure of their daily life, travelling an extra hour a day through peak traffic.
“Come the winter, they won’t see daylight because they’ll have to leave around 7am and not get back until 4.30/5pm. Are the escorts who take them going to want to do this?
“They actually made the school days shorter for the children and now they want to do this. It doesn’t seem fair.
“They’re going to be pushed out with no choice at all, they’re not going to be listened to at all.”
The schools could be relocated as Liverpool Council looks to meet the rising number of young people with education health and care plans (EHCP).
A report to councillors said more than 4,000 children in Liverpool have EHCPs, an increase of 46% since 2019.
Cllr Tom Logan, cabinet member for education and skills, said that Liverpool “does not have enough places to meet demand” currently and “radical changes” were needed to the system with the consultation acting as a starting point.
Mr Osborne said George had told him he wasn’t keen on having to start at a new school.
He said: “He’s already said he doesn’t want to go.
“This is already having an effect on the children as it’s on their mind, the seed has been planted.
“It’ll just have a negative effect on them, they love being in that environment and they’ll have all new surroundings and have to get used to it again.
“With mainstream schools, they say you need to be in the right catchment area but here it looks like the children won’t be listened to.”
The findings of the non-statutory consultation, which is yet to be launched, will inform the council’s cabinet as to whether it should move towards a statutory discussion on the future of the schools.
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