Rutland County Council's Cabinet is to consider the outcome of a public consultation on the future of The Parks Special Nursery School in Oakham at its next meeting on Thursday 11 January 2024. 

The Parks is a registered nursery school located within Oakham Church of England (CE) Primary Academy but maintained by Rutland County Council. The Parks offer includes support for children with moderate and severe learning difficulties, as well as support for speech, language and communication, autism and physical disabilities.

All children currently being taught at The Parks are of primary school (reception) age. There are no children accessing a special nursery place this academic year and the Council is not aware of any children of nursery age needing specialist nursery provision from September 2024.   

Following a review of The Parks by a group of independent SEND (Special Education Needs and Disabilities) professionals, which took place over two and a half years, it was identified that there were issues with the operational sustainability of the provision. Places at the Parks places cost substantially more than SEND support in mainstream settings and the nursery has very small pupil cohorts, making it increasingly unviable.

Cabinet on 12 September 2023 agreed to consult on the future of The Parks, following a process set out by the Department for Education (DfE). Consultation opened following the public launch on 1 November and closed at midnight on Sunday 3 December. 

Cabinet on Thursday 11 January will be asked to consider the outcome of the consultation, with a recommendation to approve closure of the Parks Special Nursery School from the end of the academic year (August 2024).  

Councillor Tim Smith, Cabinet Member for Children and Families at Rutland County Council, said: "We know many people feel incredibly strongly about The Parks and don't want it to close. It has provided fantastic care and support to children with additional needs and it's clear from the consultation that families who have accessed the provision over many years have had an overwhelmingly positive experience.

"During this same period, SEND support in mainstream schools and nurseries has increased substantially. With demand for special nursery places falling, it's recommended that The Parks should close and funding be used to further increase the SEND support available in mainstream settings across the County, including expansion of the Designated Specialist Provision at Oakham C of E."

This will come as a huge disappointment to the 3,100+ residents who signed the petition to protect the school, and parents, guardians, teachers and students who staged a protest in November to save the school.

All responses submitted as part of the consultation on The Parks Special Nursery were evaluated by an independent reviewer Maureen Morris, who carefully analysed all representations and concluded that no viable alternatives to closure had been put forward by respondents. Her final report supports the proposal to proceed with closure of The Parks and make more effective use of the wide-ranging resources available to families, such as Rutland's Family Hub, Early Help Service and other education providers.  

In her concluding remarks, Maureen Morris said: "Closing any much loved and valued provision was always going to be emotive. However, on reading the responses, the large majority were talking about the experience of pupils who went to The Parks Special Nursery School some years ago. There were only a very few who had current experience of The Parks as it is now, and I feel more weight should be given to the responses of these people.

"It is my understanding that families of children who may have been candidates for The Parks, as with all Rutland resident children who are identified as potentially requiring additional support, are currently being supported by officers of Rutland County Council while going through the EHCP (Education Health and Care Plan) process or whose children have been recently diagnosed, and this will continue even after a decision regarding the future of The Parks is made.

"This is a statutory process that all Councils must adhere to - the recent Local Area Ofsted identifies that this is a successful approach in Rutland. I looked carefully through the responses and found nothing to indicate that the consultation was not done in a lawful way or that there were any innovative solutions given or suggested to ensure that the situation at The Parks could be changed."

The agenda and reports for Rutland County Council's Cabinet meeting at 10am on Thursday 11 January can be read online. This includes a copy of Maureen Morris' final report on The Parks Special Nursery Consultation, together with an appendix containing all responses submitted during the consultation period.

Responses have been anonymised to protect the identity of those who took part.