Have your say on proposals to expand Pinfold Primary School in Ormskirk
Residents in Ormskirk are being invited to have their say on proposals to close Pinfold Primary School and repurpose it as a specialist satellite provision.
In September 2023, Pinfold Primary School's Governing body took the decision to close the school as it is no longer financially viable as a mainstream school following a drastic reduction in the number of pupils on roll.
While numbers on roll for mainstream continues to fall in this area, the demand for Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP) and specialist provision continues to increase.
Subsequently, proposals have been drawn up by Lancashire County Council to close Pinfold Primary School, with effect from 29 March 2024, reopening as SEND satellite provision for Kingsbury Primary School, an Outstanding maintained special school for pupils with generic learning difficulties, with effect from 1 April 2024.
The provision would support up to 20 early years foundation stage/key stage one children, providing access to education in a specialised environment.
An initial consultation has already taken place with key stakeholders and today, February 19th, the formal representation period has begun and will run until March 15th 2024.
County Councillor Jayne Rear, cabinet member for Education and Skills at Lancashire County Council, said: "By repurposing Pinfold Primary School as a special school satellite, children and young people in this area will be able to get the support they need, near where they live.
"This will help us to meet the increasing demand for specialist support and provision and ensure these facilities are put to good use.
"Our proposal provides us with the opportunity to expand the provision offered via Kingsbury Primary School in the timeliest way.
"It will also reduce the dependency in the need to source costly places in non-maintained and independent special schools.
"We welcome everyone's views on the proposals and I would encourage people to share them with us during the public consultation period."
For further information about the proposals please visit: lancashire.gov.uk/children-education-families/schools/ and click on 'School Place Provision Planning'.