More than 500 people have signed a petition opposing the “short-sighted” proposals to relocate a SEND school 14 miles across Liverpool.
A non-statutory engagement exercise is currently seeking the views of parents and stakeholders alike over proposals to tackle the “dramatic increase” in need for school places across the city. Among the plans is the proposition to move pupils from Bank View School on Long Lane, Fazakerley, to Parklands in Speke - 14 miles away.
In a bid to block the move, Liverpool Autistic Children’s Alliance (LACA) has launched a petition online that has won hundreds of signatures in support. The petition calls on Mayor Joanne Anderson and Liverpool Council “to listen to the voices of the students of Bank View High school along with their parents/carers and reject these short-sighted proposals and plans to close and relocate this essential and much valued autism spectrum disorder (ASD) school.”
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It added that since the “exceptional” school was opened almost seven years ago for children and young people with complex learning difficulties, it has provided “an excellent educational and learning environment that provides an all-inclusive and bespoke approach that enriches the educational outcomes and quality day-to-day life experiences of all of the children and young people that attend the school.”
The LACA petition has urged residents to sign the petition and criticised the proposals by the city council to relocate the “much valued special school”. It said: “We believe the decision to close and relocate Bank View school will have a devastating impact upon many of these autistic children including the overwhelming disruption and confusion towards their education and learning development.
“There will also be other negative outcomes including transportation issues creating long delays getting to and from school. Parents/carers and other family members will also be impacted by this decision as they try to adjust and deal with the unprecedented anxieties and negative consequences that will be placed upon not only their child but the whole of the family.”
The Liverpool Council consultation is also considering 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.
