Portsdown Primary School will see inclusion centre for children with special needs closed

Portsmouth City Council's cabinet member for education Suzy Horton will be asked to sign off the closure of the nine-pupil unit at Portsdown Primary School ahead of its replacement by the 24-place Arundel Court Primary Academy centre from September.

'When it comes to special needs support, we are always reviewing and looking for the best possible way to provide that,' she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service ahead of her decision meeting on Thursday (December 15).

'Although it’s a closure, it's not negative: economies of scale from the larger centre will be better for everyone and there are very few children who will be affected as we have been planning this for so long.'

She said the council had worked with Portsdown Primary School and parents since a consultation started last year and that only a small number of children would be affected.

The decision to close the centre was made following the publication of the Portsmouth Strategic SEND Review Phase 2 in November 2020 which said inclusion centres needed to be 'of a sustainable and viable size with aminimum of three classes'.

The review said larger units were more financially beneficial, were easier to recruit staff to and were more educationally beneficial to children.

'There is no scope to develop the Portsdown Primary school site to increase the number of places in the inclusion centre to ensure that the provision continues to be viable and to provide the flexibility required to better support the needs of pupils,' a report by Sarah Daly, the council's director of education says.

The closure had been due to take place this year but was postponed for a year to allow extra consultation with parents to take place.

Teachers can now be singled out for praise as nominations have opened for the Teach Portsmouth Awards 2023.

The awards, on June 29, 2023, will recognise teachers who go above and beyond for their students to ensure that they receive the best education possible.

The deadline for the nominations is December 22. To nominate someone see https://www.teachportsmouth.co.uk/awards and fill in a form.