Children & Young People Education Place Planning Plan Consultation

Havering Council carried out a consultation activity from March to May 2023 seeking views on our proposed Draft Children and Young People Education Place Planning Plan.

We asked parents, carers, local residents, education providers and other people interested in education provision in Havering for their contribution towards the proposals that have been set out in order to meet demand and ensure that there is sufficient capacity for the future need for education provision in Havering.

424 responses were received to the consultation.

Early Years

• Just under a third (30%) of parents and stakeholders agreed that there are sufficient childcare places.  Over a third (38%) disagreed.
• The majority of stakeholders (71%) agreed that an onsite nursery provision should be included when opening a new school
• Half of parents (50%) and more than three-quarters of stakeholders (77%) stated that there are not enough places for SEND pupils.

Primary and Secondary

• The majority of parents and stakeholders (71%) agree that that a new secondary school is needed in Havering from 2027/28
• More than half of stakeholders (56%) agree that the Local Authority should formulate an action plan and accommodation strategy for those schools where we have permanently reduced the published admission number (PAN), in order to address surplus places.

Post 16

• The majority of parents and stakeholders responded either no (45%) or don’t know (43%) when asked whether there are sufficient sixth form places available at Havering school sixth forms to meet the projected demand.  Only 10% of respondents replied yes to this question.
• Nearly half of stakeholders (48%) said they didn’t know if there is sufficient capacity available at the Havering Colleges - just under a third (29%) said that there isn’t.

Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND)

• The majority of parents and stakeholders (64%) agree that we need a new special school in Havering.
• The majority of stakeholders (93%) agree that a lot of children with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) in mainstream school settings need to be placed in a SEND unit instead.  This was also frequently commented on by parents in the SEND comment section.
• The majority of stakeholders (81%) agree that we need to revisit the capacity in our current local special schools to increase place numbers where possible.
• The majority of stakeholders (86%) agree that we need to develop a community base in conjunction with a specialist provider and establish a coordinated ‘Education Other Than At School’ (EOTAS) provision for children with EHCPs to support children and families who are either out of school or who are struggling to attend mainstream school until more special school places are available.

Alternative Provision (AP)

• More than half of parents and stakeholders (51%) agree that Havering would benefit from a new AP school.
• Two-thirds of stakeholders (65%) think we should develop the ‘AP Out Reach Offer’ - to be utilised as an early intervention to address needs and avoid fixed term and permanent exclusions.
• Just under half of stakeholders (47%) said no when asked if our mainstream schools are inclusive enough in supporting vulnerable children and young people.

The survey results are being reviewed and will be included in a report to inform our new Children and Young People Education Place Planning Plan.