A “dire situation” and “under pressure” – those are just two phrases used to describe North Yorkshire’s special educational needs services.

Over the last year, North Yorkshire Council has received more than 1,200 applications for support from parents with SEND children.

The figure is a significant increase on last year and has left council staff under pressure and parents frustrated.

Meanwhile, to compound matters further, the authority has a lack of places in special educational needs schools.

The Stray Ferret has covered the matter extensively with interviews with families with SEND children and the political fallout from the increased demand.

In this article, we look at how the council is coping with the matter and what it means for parents in the Harrogate district.

Thousands of requests

The demand on council services for SEND children was laid bare this month.

A report before councillors on Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee on March 14 showed a significant increase in the number of education health and care plans submitted to the council.

The plans detail a child’s needs and are given to schools to consider ahead of a potential admission.

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The council received 1,275 request for EHC plans in 2023 – a rise of 30% on the previous year.

Of that number, 600 were either awaiting assessment, had yet to be issued or were still being finalised.

Amanda Newbold, assistant director for education and skills at North Yorkshire Council, told councillors that part of the problem was a lack of educational psychologists to help deal with requests.

The council has since hired part time and trainee psychologists and sought agency staff to help address the backlog in plans.

Ms Newbold said:

“Where we have identified issues, we are doing everything possible to rectify that. It is an issue that we are aware of and it’s an issue that we are not happy about.”

‘Dire situation’

The council says its recruitment will help to tackle the timeliness in issuing plans to parents.

However, Emily Mitchell, who is co-founder of SenKind, a support group for parents of children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in North Yorkshire, said the demand remains troubling.

Ms Mitchell, who lives in Harrogate and whose daughter Elsie is non-verbal and autistic, told the Stray Ferret that the upward trend in ECH plans had happened year on year but felt little had been done to address it.

She said:

“Year after year, we’ve witnessed this upward trend, yet little has changed to address the pressing needs of SEN children and their families in North Yorkshire.

“The situation is dire. The demand for specialist school places far exceeds availability, leaving countless children without the tailored support they require to thrive academically and socially.”

Emily Mitchell with her daughter Elsie.

Ms Mitchell, who had her own struggles with getting Elsie into an appropriate school in Harrogate last year, said more needed to be done on a local and national level to tackle growing demand for EHC plans.

She said:

“The influx of EHCP requests underscores the urgent need for action at both local and national levels.

“While some measures have been introduced to address these challenges, they fall short of providing the comprehensive support needed to alleviate the strain on SEN families, especially in North Yorkshire.

“It’s time for meaningful action to ensure that every child, regardless of their abilities, has access to the support and resources they need to succeed.”

Number one financial challenge

The matter over increased demand in North Yorkshire reached the House of Commons in January.

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP, Andrew Jones, said that senior council officers told him that special educational needs was the biggest financial challenge for them.

Speaking in parliament, he said recent changes to the Children and Families Act 2014 were believed to have led to 1,000 extra claims for financial assistance in North Yorkshire alone last year.

Andrew Jones, Harrogate and Knaresborough MP.

Mr Jones said:

“I have met with several families in my constituency whose children have education, health and care plans, yet they still experience difficulties finding special educational needs and disabilities support.

“I have taken up their cases with senior council officers, who tell me that SEND is the number one financial challenge for the council.

“In North Yorkshire alone, the council believes 1,000 cases last year were attributable to changes made by that Act.”

Aside from hiring staff to tackle its backlog, North Yorkshire Council has sought to increase places in specialist schools for pupils.

The authority agreed proposals to create a facility at the former Woodfield Community Primary School in Bilton in August 2023, which is expected to cost £3.5 million to establish.

Recently, it advertised for an academy sponsor for the site with a target open date of April 2025.

Meanwhile, it is also planning to provide additional special school places at Springwater School in Starbeck from September 2025.

The move would help to create additional capacity for 45 pupils at the school.

The project is expected to be funded through £3.1 million from its High Needs Provision Capital Allocation provided by government.

For the council, it hopes its measures will help to tackle demand for SEND pupils. However, parents appear yet to be convinced.

Parents from Harrogate took part in a demonstration yesterday calling for better school provision for children with special educational needs.

SEND Reform England is staging peaceful protests outside town halls across the country this autumn. Parents from Sen Hub Harrogate joined the latest one in Leeds yesterday.

They are campaigning about issues including lack of spaces at special educational schools and unlawful rejections for Education, Health and Care Plans, which set out what additional support is required by young people with additional needs.

Emily Mitchell and Ashlie Charleton, who co-founded Sen Hub Harrogare to help parents of children with special educational needs, were among the Harrogate contingency in Leeds yesterday.

Emily, whose daughter Elsie is autistic and non-verbal, told the Stray Ferret parents should not have to fight for an education for their children. She added:

“I joined the protest due to my own fight with getting my child into education.

“I am currently going through a tribunal process to fight the local authority who aren’t taking my child’s needs into any consideration.”

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When Harrogate High School held its autumn open evening on Thursday, there will have been some parents present who needed to be won over. 

After 10 years of being rated ‘satisfactory’ by Ofsted, and then another 10 years rated ‘good’, the school was downgraded earlier this year to ‘requires improvement’ – the third-best out of four ratings.

But speaking to the Stray Ferret ahead of the open evening, headteacher Sukhraj Gill said the thorny subject of the school’s Ofsted report was not one he was going to duck. He said: 

“It’s the first thing I talk about on parents’ evenings – it’s not an elephant in the room for me. On paper, we’re ‘requires improvement’, but we are improving.” 

Mr Gill arrived at Harrogate High in January 2022 and had been in post little over a year when the Ofsted inspectors came the following spring.

A graduate of the University of Warwick, he completed his teaching qualifications at the University of Cambridge and taught maths for over 20 years in West Yorkshire, including a decade at Bradford Academy (then rated ‘good’), where he was vice principal. 

He said: 

“Before I started this job, people said to me ‘Harrogate High? That’s the worst school in Harrogate’. I heard all those descriptions of the school before I even set foot through the door.

“That just tells me that these students need good-quality education, and good-quality people who value them and can help them grow and move on to their next destinations. 

“I’m not saying I’m anybody special, but I think I can bring a bit of experience and strategy.” 

He came to Harrogate High at a time when the school – like many around the country – was still reeling from the covid pandemic. The school had lost its sixth form, and a lot of students – even those from secure, well-off backgrounds – were displaying the traits of social disadvantage: disorganisation, lack of focus, and persistent absenteeism.

Mr Gill, who is the school’s third headteacher since the last Ofsted inspection in 2017, said: 

“At that time, we [already] had some turbulence among the teachers and leadership here. We own that – we’re not going to hide from that. But we’re part of the Northern Star Academies Trust, and they were all over that, hiring a school improvement officer and replacing the senior leaders here. I was the last piece, as the headteacher.” 

But the changes didn’t stop at new staff. The Ofsted report highlighted several areas where the school, which has around 750 students, needed to improve, and Mr Gill is introducing best practice strategies to effect the necessary changes. 

One criticism of the school was that the implementation of the curriculum in some subjects was not as effective as in others, so he has developed a teacher toolkit, which lays out the different phases that every lesson must feature. 

Ofsted also pointed out that some staff didn’t not use the school behaviour policy consistently, so Mr Gill has created scripts for teachers to use in the most common situations. 

Another observation was that the personal development curriculum was not planned to the same level as subject curriculum planning, so the school identified its core values under the acronym CARES – courage, aspiration, respect, equality and self-control – which permeate school life. 

The watchword is consistency – in expectations, behaviour, lesson structure and planning. Mr Gill said: 

“This is an evidence-based approach, and it’s effective for all students, even high attainers. If you have consistency in learning, language, the way teachers teach, it helps students make an impact quicker.” 

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Beyond the classroom, there is a wide range of extracurricular activities, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards have been reintroduced, there’s a farm twinning project with Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and there are even plans to create an urban farm at the school at some point over the next three years. 

For the more academically minded, Mr Gill says the curriculum was built “from the top down” rather than from the bottom up, and is delivered with high expectations. 

The overall mission is to be a school for the community which supports every child regardless of background, says Mr Gill: 

“My experience of working in inner cities is good for Harrogate High School, because this is effectively an inner-city comprehensive school – even though Harrogate is a town. This is a true comprehensive school. We’ve got affluence and high attainers, and we’ve also got some real disadvantage, and that’s not always appreciated by the wider community.” 

The data reinforces the point. Harrogate High School has the highest percentage of children with special educational needs and disability (SEND) of all the mainstream schools in North Yorkshire. Nearly 30% of children receive free school meals, compared with 15% across the county and around 24% nationally. Mr Gill said: 

“We’ve got children here who are looked-after children, we’ve got children who are young carers for parents who are drug abusers, we’ve got children who we feed breakfast to, because they can’t get it at home. But we’re an inclusive school. We won’t let any child down.” 

Whether Mr Gill is successful in his mission could be measured in various ways, but he says his mindset has never been based around his personal success – it’s always about the students. He said: 

“When you make a difference to students who need the difference made, that brings the greatest sense of fulfilment. 

“I’m a very spiritual person – I do a lot of meditation – and I’ve always thought we’re chosen to be here, at this point in time.” 

The other obvious measure of success will be the next Ofsted inspection – whenever that may come – but that doesn’t seem to faze him. He said: 

“We’ve put strategies into place and we’re now starting to see a culture shift. If Ofsted came in a year’s time, I believe we’d have a completely different report. 

“But we don’t work just to an Ofsted inspection – it only reflects a point in time. We work for the students. We serve our community. That’s who we’re here for.”

Schools across the Harrogate district have given their backing to plans for a specialist school for students with autism.

The proposal for the site of the former Woodfield Primary School will be discussed by North Yorkshire Council leaders today – and teachers are urging them to support it.

Samina O’Brien, special educational needs coordinator (Senco) and inclusion manager at Ripon Grammar School, said a specialist facility for students with autism across the Harrogate district was badly needed.

She told the Stray Ferret:

“We are getting so many more diagnoses of autism and a lot of these students can’t cope, to the point where they stop coming to school.

“When they come back, the school can’t change. The students can’t cope with the routine, the rigidity of the rules, and even when we make allowances they still struggle.”

Mrs O’Brien said schools did their best to help children with autism, but did not receive adequate funding to deliver the right support, such as one-to-one help or quieter rooms to work in.

She said Ripon Grammar School was not as badly affected by the situation as some schools because it was selective based on academic ability. However, she said many autistic students were highly academically able, but were unable to reach their full potential because they could not cope with the school environment.

When that was the case, specialist provision was often a significant distance away, she said, and students were not always able to make the journey.

There were private specialist schools students could attend, but cost was a barrier for most families. She added:

“There’s some stereotyping about the students in North Yorkshire, but the problems are the same wherever you are in the country. They don’t just change because you’ve crossed into an area that’s perceived as more wealthy or more rural.

“We’ve got a few students here who we know would be so much more suited to [a specialist school]. It would still be academic, but we would reduce the amount of stress the students went through.

“Our biggest concern is how unhappy some of those youngsters are. I think it would be so beneficial for all those students that are struggling.

“If this goes ahead, for some parents and more importantly the children, this will be what saves them and puts them back into mainstream where they should be and can thrive.”

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The proposal for the former Woodfield site is for a school catering for students aged between 11 and 19.  It would have capacity for around 80 children, who would not need to have a formal diagnosis of autism.

Rossett School is also in favour of the proposal. Newly-appointed headteacher Tim Milburn said:

“It is so pleasing to see significant investment being proposed for specialist provision in the area. This is such welcome news for children and families who have been seeking this support for a number of years.

“I will be really interested to hear how the investment will support children and families for whom mainstream education is the most appropriate setting.”

Liz Zoccolan, Senco and assistant headteacher at Harrogate Grammar School, added:

“Any increase in provision which will meet the needs of the growing number of students with education, health and care plans is to be welcomed in the area. This would further enable potentially vulnerable young people and their families timely access to specialist support if that is their choice.

“We would be keen to work alongside and collaborate with the proposed provision so that as many students as possible may benefit.”

If the plans are approved by NYC’s executive member for children and young people’s services and corporate directors today, a consultation could be launched in two weeks’ time, running until late July.

North Yorkshire Council has revealed plans to open a school for autistic children on the site of the former Woodfield Community Primary School.

The school in Bilton closed at the end of last year and has been empty since.

A council report prepared for a meeting next week recommends consulting on plans to re-open the school in September next year.

The school would cater for up to 80 students with autism aged 11 to 19. A total of £3.5 million would be spent on upgrading the site.

The report says there is “no short to medium-term need to re-establish additional mainstream places in Woodfield” but the number of young people with identified SEND and an EHCP has increased by over 110% in North Yorkshire since 2016.  It adds:

“The site at Woodfield offers the opportunity to create this provision and give this group of children access to suitable peer groups and academic challenge in order to reach their aspirations.

“This would provide children and families with a more local offer of provision than is currently unavailable without significant travel.

“The planning assumption is that the new provision would ultimately operate with a capacity of around 80 pupils and would serve an age range of 11 to 19.”

The report adds there will be “no changes” to the community library and children’s centre on the same site.

Councillors will vote next week on whether to accept the recommendation and begin consulting on the plans.

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Education inspector Ofsted has given its seal of approval for the opening of a new school in Harrogate for pupils requiring additional support.

Strive for Education currently provides alternative provision to 28 students aged 14 to 19 from Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough for one to three days a week.

Many struggle in a mainstream school environment due to social, emotional or mental health issues and are at risk of exclusion. Often they are referred to Strive by local schools.

Strive now wants to open as an independent school catering for 18 pupils in September, with a view to expanding numbers. Most of the pupils would be on its roll full-time, rather than sent there part-time by other schools

As part of that process, it underwent a pre-registration inspection from Ofsted in November.

The inspector’s report, published last week, concluded the school “is likely to meet all the independent school standards when it opens”.

Andy Brown

Strive, which was set up by former Harrogate Grammar School assistant headteacher Andy Brown and his wife Sonja in 2020, is now awaiting confirmation from the Department for Education that it can open as an independent school in autumn. Mr Brown said:

“We’ve grown and grown and got to the point where we need to be an independent school. It will make a huge difference for students that require extra provision.

“There’s a huge lack of support for special education needs students who need extra support beyond what mainstream schools can offer.”

Local shortage

Mr Brown said local students requiring additional support currently often had to travel to places such as Leeds or Darlington because of a shortage of local provision.

Students with special educational needs can apply to their local education authority for an education, health and care plan, which identifies their needs and the additional support required.

Those assessed to have the greatest need receive personal budgets, which can be used to fund additional support such as that provided by Strive, which will charge annual fees starting from £25,000.

Strive is based on North Park Road in Harrogate and has a workshop in Starbeck.

It will continue to use these sites but Mr Brown said it was “definitely looking for a suitable venue to increase our size and additional numbers”.

If Strive’s plans are successful, it will initially have 12 full-time pupils on its own roll.

It also wants to maintain alternative provision for six pupils to fulfil demand for this from local schools.

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A village primary school near Harrogate has been praised by Ofsted for its strong values and family feel.

All Saints’ Church of England Primary School in Kirkby Overblow was ‘good’, according to inspectors who visited for the first time since it joined the Yorkshire Causeway Schools Trust in 2018.

In their report, published this week, they said:

“Pupils embody the school values well. These values help pupils to understand the importance of never giving up, being a good friend, working hard and looking out for others.

“There is a true family feel in the school. Teachers expect pupils to try their best and behave well. Most pupils expect this of themselves.

“Bullying is virtually non-existent. Pupils play together with good humour. Break times are energetic for some, and calm and relaxed for others.”

The report said the curriculum was well-designed, pupils’ learning was secure, and there was a strong focus on making all pupils fluent readers from an early age.

All areas of the curriculum are taught to all pupils, inspectors said, so even those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) have the opportunity to learn and succeed. The report said pupils’ needs were identified early, allowing the school to put in place extra support.

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Addressing areas to improve, inspectors recommended the school’s leaders could further refine the curriculum to fill in some gaps in pupils’ knowledge.

The report added:

“Pupils benefit from a variety of opportunities to support their broader development. They aspire to a role of responsibility. This can be as a well-being officer, sports leader, worship ambassador, charity officer or eco-warrior…

“Pupils play a key role in the community. They recently raised money for people in Ukraine through an event in the local church. Pupils have raised funds for a school in Africa and visited places of worship for other faiths…

“Staff say they enjoy working in school because leaders make sure they have a sensible workload. Leaders have restructured subject leadership. This has reduced the number of responsibilities for each teacher.

“Staff morale is good. Staff support each other. Communication is strong. Teachers say that they are willing to take a risk because there is no fear of criticism.”

The report has been welcomed by the school, whose base leader Sarah Honey said she was proud of everyone in the school. She added it was a”a very special place to work”.

Headteacher Amber Andrews, who has been in post since 2018 and also leads North Rigton Primary School, said:

“We were delighted to receive such an encouraging and complimentary report, which recognised how the whole school community embodies our values and praised the work that we had put into creating our own bespoke curriculum.

“All children are able to access this curriculum making it inclusive to all – no child misses out. Inspectors documented the excellent standard of behaviour of the children both in class and whilst playing, adding ‘pupils play together with good humour’ and value the beautiful outside space.”