Closure of school deemed a mistake (From Stroud News and Journal)

Closure of school deemed a mistake

THE closure of Stroud's Bownham Park special school two years ago was a mistake, according to Shire Hall's new Conservative leadership.

Cllr Jackie Hall, the lead member for children's services at Gloucestershire County Council, said the previous administration's decision to axe the school had been wrong.

The revelation came as teachers and parents of special needs children met with top-ranking council officials at the Shrubberies special school in Stonehouse on Monday as part of a county-wide rethink on special needs policy.

One mother described her five-year-old son's education in a mainstream school as a "hell" and joined those asking for more investment in special schools.

The mother, who asked not to be named, said: "How much longer are we expecting our children to go through the hell of mainstream school before they have a choice?

"In just a year he has fallen behind - he already knows he is falling behind everybody else. But I am having to fight for my right to remove him.

"I am prepared to remove him in September if he is not moved."

Shire Hall is proposing to send pupils with moderate and additional learning difficulties (MALD) to Belmont in Cheltenham and the Milestone in Gloucester.

But parents and teachers told Cllr Hall that the journey would disrupt already troubled lives - indicating there was a strong case for a new special school in the Stroud area.

One teacher told Cllr Hall: "There is a real need for MALD provision in this area."

A council report shows that both the Shrubberies and Paternoster School in Cirencester are already full, and both in need of "considerable improvement" to their buildings.

Detailed consultation work on special school provision in Stroud and the South Cotswolds will be carried out over the next year.