Kent County Council consults on shutting residential unit of Broomhill Bank special school in Hextable

Residential places at a special school could close later this year under a proposal by the county’s largest local authority.

Kent County Council (KCC) says “there is no longer a requirement” to commission boarding provision at Broomhill Bank School in Hextable.

The plan was put out for consultation on March 7 and ends on April 4.

Broomhill Bank is a foundation special school with places for students with communication and interaction difficulties associated with autism and speech, language and communication needs.

The school’s management has accepted that in light of KCC’s intentions, the residential provision would no longer be viable.

The boarding element of the school would cease in September.

KCC’s consultation document states: “It is the intention that the residential provision would close following the departure of the students currently using the provision, who are expected to leave the school at the end of this academic year.

“KCC is proposing that the process for statutory closure of the residential provision is initiated, with an expected closure date of September 2025.”

It adds: “Broomhill Bank School’s Executive Headteacher and Chair of Governors have been working with KCC officers to ensure that provision for the remaining residential students would not be adversely affected up to their leaving date.

“The student placements at Broomhill Bank do not fall under the description of requiring residential provision in line with Kent’s placement criteria and the local authority do not envisage a change in this.

“This is primarily due to the fact that there is no specific process for identifying appropriate students.”

According to Peter Read, a Kent education commentator, the number of boarders at Broomhill Bank has fallen considerably in recent years.

He wrote in his latest newsletter: “With KCC controlling referrals to the school, application of this policy has seen the number of children placed there reduced from 19 to two over the last three years, despite four consecutive annual Outstanding Residential Care Ofsted reports, surely a unique record.”

Mr Read asks why the same process did not apply two other similar special schools in Kent supported by KCC.

Ten years ago, KCC tried unsuccessfully to shut the entire centre, then called Furness School, claiming it ran at a deficit and had insufficient demand.

The Rowhill Road school also had failed to make good progress in improving the quality of education since being given a “requires improvement” grading in 2013 by Ofsted inspectors.

Mr Read was fiercely opposed to the closure of Furness.

He notes in his newsletter: “A solution was proposed and followed through personally by two very influential Kent people: Sir Paul Carter CBE, then Leader of KCC, and Pam Jones OBE, former head of Ifield Special School where I was Chair of Governors.

“Quite simply, Furness was taken over by Broomhill Bank Special School, where it and its residential component have subsequently thrived…”

A KCC statement said: “As the consultation states, the focus for SEN residential placements in Kent is to place children and young people with statutory care needs - where a placement is made to meet those needs and where local day specialist provision is not an option - into a specialist residential setting.

“This is in line with other local authorities across the country.

“Whilst we acknowledge the quality of the provision available at Broomhill Bank, for many of the pupils who accessed the residential provisions there, the main reason was that they live a considerable distance from the setting, and not that their care needs required a residential provision.

“Work is ongoing in Kent to reduce the numbers of children with SEN travelling such distances and to arrange for appropriate provision in each locality."

KCC disputed Mr Read's comparison to other special schools in Kent, saying the needs of pupils "differ considerably" to those at Broomhill Bank.

The statement added: “KCC appreciates that one size does not fit all and for that reason, rather than producing an overarching strategy, each school offering residential provision has been assessed to ensure it matches local need and that each school's individual circumstances are being taken into consideration.

“KCC has worked collaboratively with the leaders of Broomhill Bank School and believe it is more beneficial for the school to offer more day places for children with more complex needs. Work is currently continuing to develop proposals to fulfil this aim.

“While KCC still appreciates there is a need for residential provision in the appropriate circumstances, it is clear there are alternative options available to many pupils."