To all Stakeholders and Parents/Carer of students in Years 7-13

Re: Consultation on Proposal to Establish a Resource Base at Ralph Allen School

We are writing to inform you that Ralph Allen School is currently undergoing a three week consultation period on the proposed opening of the resource base for up to 20 students with Autism Spectrum Disorder(ASD) that is due to open in September 2025.

The consultation will run from 24 October 2024 - 14 November 2024.

If you need this document in a different format or language, please contact the school consultation team on 01225 832936 or via email: ras-reception@palladianacademytrust.com

Proposal

Palladian Academy Trust is consulting on a proposal to establish from September 2025:

• a Resource Base known as the Griffin Centre which will be for up to 20 learners to support students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) at Ralph Allen School.

Background

Inclusivity is at the heart of Ralph Allen Schools' ethos and the school has undergone successive modifications to ensure young people with special needs and disabilities are able to fully participate in the whole life of the school. Increasing resource base provision is part of a local authority initiative to ensure students with special

educational needs are able to access more readily mainstream schools.

A resource base supports learners whose needs can be met in a mainstream setting but who require a specialist environment and support within the school. Pupils are supported within this environment with an Educational Health Care Plan, small class sizes and high staffing ratios. Their plan will also support their involvement in larger classes within the school according to the needs and progress of the pupil. Our aim is to enable pupils to fulfil their potential to successfully access part or all of the curriculum within a mainstream school.

Evidence of Need

Improved diagnosis of ASD has meant a significant increase in the number of children and young people with Education and Health Care Plans (EHCP) in recent years across the country. There is currently a lack of facilities for children with ASD EHCPs in the Bath area. This means that students are disadvantaged by having to travel significant distances to school, or not receive the support they need in their local school,sometimes reducing their ability to attend school at all.

The Griffin Centre will ensure a better offer for children and young people that is local and suitable to their needs. It will support more children with special educational needs to be educated and thrive in their local school and improve their life chances, facilitating better access to the curriculum and avoiding the need for children to travel to a school further away.

Ralph Allen School Proposal

The proposed resource base at Ralph Allen School would support children and young people with a primary autism need who have an EHCP. It is proposed that the base would open from September 2025 within years 7-13 with a maximum of 20 students.

In order to facilitate the Griffin Centre as a permanent space at the school there will be building works that looks to add an additional floor to an existing building. The published admission number of the school will remain the same and will not be impacted by this proposal.

Costs and Expenditure

Revenue funding from Bath and North East Somerset Council is in place to support this proposal.

Admission to the Resource Base

To be considered for a place in the Griffin Centre, the child or young person must have an EHCP. The Griffin Centre accommodation will not increase the number of students Ralph Allen School, and the planned admission numbers will remain the same, it is the local authority admissions team who will allocate places in the Centre, in consultation with the Trust. Priority will be given to those students residing in the Bath and North East Somerset catchment area.

Consultation and decision-making process

This consultation on the proposal will take place from 24 October to 14 November 2024.

The Academy Trust will make an application, through the submission of a business case for the proposal, to the Department for Education’s (DfE) Southwest Region’s Group. The business case application will include the outcome of the consultation.It is the regional directors of the DfE’s Southwest Region’s Group who will consider the applications and outcome of the consultations and decide whether to approve the establishment of the resource base.

Responding to the consultation

Comments can be made to Palladian Academy Trust either by:

Email: consultation@palladianacademytrust.com

By post to: The Bridge, 150 Frome Road, Bath, BA2 5RE

Please note that all responses must be received by 14 November 2024.

All responses to the consultation will be considered and will be shared with the school’s leadership team, board of directors and trustees. Responses will also be shared with BANES and the regional director’s office at the DfE, but we will not send individual responses to any specific points made.