Council considers next stage in shake-up of schooling for blind

Bradford Council is proposing to set up Additionally Resourced Centres (ARCs) for children with severe visual impairment at Hanson Secondary School and at Grove House Primary School.

Both centres would serve pupils from across the Bradford district from September, if the proposals are approved.

Interim arrangements have been in place since the closure of Temple Bank School for the Blind in 2004.

Children from the Bradford district who have a severe visual impairment are currently educated in three host schools with resource bases – Hanson School, Killinghall and Grove House primary schools.

It is now proposed to formally establish ARCs for visually impaired students at Hanson Secondary School and Grove House Primary School and discontinue the interim special educational needs provision at Killinghall Primary School.

If this goes ahead it is proposed that no further children would be placed at Killinghall Primary but those existing children would continue to be supported at the school until the end of year six, or transfer into Key Stage Two. The ARCs would be part of the mainstream schools but with specialist staff.

Councillor Ralph Berry, Bradford Council’s executive member for children’s services, said: “The specialist centres will offer visually impaired children the opportunity to learn Braille, ICT and mobility and there will be learning opportunities outside the classroom specially for them.

“The close proximity of Hanson and Grove House schools would provide a ‘campus style’ facility for pupils with visual impairments and enable easy transitions as well as being able to share resources and expertise.”

When it meets on April 15 Bradford Council’s executive will be recommended to press ahead with the next stage by authorising the strategic director of children’s services to publish the proposals.

A report to be considered by the executive says that it was always expected that the interim arrangements would last only for the life of the children from Temple Bank moving through them, and that new provision would be developed over time.

It says: “This has taken longer than predicted, and so new children have moved into these schools, together with some children being denied the offer of a resource place, and accessing local provision, or as a result of parental choice.”

The three host schools were never formally opened as ARCs due to the delay.

The Service for Children and Young People with a Visual Impairment was established in September 2010.

Following consultation, there was 88 per cent agreement for a visually impaired centre at Hanson and 80 per cent support for one at Grove House.

The report will also be considered by Bradford Council’s children’s services overview and scrutiny committee on Thursday.

The report says: “This structure will ensure the Service for Children and Young People with a Visual Impairment is efficient, effective and flexible, enabling a continuum of provision for pupils with specialist support as necessary from the visual impairment staff in the new service.”

It also says that the proposal “will address the current inequality that currently exits for some children with severe visual impairment, in that in the future an ARC place will be available for all children who require one.”

The alternative option is to take the necessary steps to formalise the interim provisions by formally establishing ARCs at one secondary school, Hanson, and two primary schools, Grove House and Killinghall, with effect from September 1.