Free School Bid

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Overview

Please Note: We have arranged an on-line engagement event to be held at 6pm on Wednesday 28th September 2022. Further details and how to sign up are provided in the sections below.

West Sussex County Council (WSCC) has identified the need to provide additional specialist school places for children and young people with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs (SEMH). To address this, the Council is proposing that two new Special Free Schools should open providing up to 260 places from September 2026. The Department for Education (DfE) is in the process of accepting applications for new Special Free Schools and the Council plans to submit two bids as part of this process.

The DfE is allowing each local authority in the country the option to submit a maximum of two bids for new Special Free Schools by the application deadline of midday on 21 October 2022. Under existing Government legislation all new schools must be Free Schools (Academies). In this case the schools will be designed and built by the DfE but there is an expectation that WSCC will provide suitable sites.

There are many steps to take before the proposed new schools could open including further periods of formal consultation once a sponsor has been approved by the Secretary of State for Education; The key milestones are as follows:

  • September 2022: Initial local authority pre-consultation engagement (this process)
  • October 2022: Submission of full special free school applications to the DfE
  • December 2022 / January 2023: Successful applicants announced by the DfE, and School Specifications published
  • February 2023: Academy trusts (prospective sponsors) submit their applications; LA and DfE begins to assess them
  • May 2023: Short-list interviews with successful academy trusts, LA and DfE
  • May 2023 / June 2023: LAs submit recommendations to the Secretary of State for Education and Regional Schools Commissioner
  • Summer 2023: DfE announce successful academy trusts, DfE project delivery and pre-opening activity starts
  • 2026/2027: New special free schools open to first intake of pupils

In West Sussex, numbers of secondary school-age children with SEMH identified as a primary need has increased. The forecasts suggest that numbers will continue to grow over the next eight years.

Please note that this pre-consultation will end on 7 October 2022 with an online event added for 28 September 2022, 6-7pm.

Why your views matter

Do you have a child with SEMH needs? We want to hear your views on our proposals to open two new schools for young people aged 11 to 19 with SEMH needs in West Sussex.

Do you work with young people with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs in West Sussex? We want to hear your views on our proposals to open two new schools for young people with SEMH needs in West Sussex.

Online meetings

If you would like to find out more, please register to join our online engagement event planned for:

Wednesday 28 September from 6pm to 7pm (Click here to join the meeting)



Accessibility Statement:

If you require any of the information for this project in an alternative format, please contact us on 0330 222 8735 or email Kathryn.Kellagher@westsussex.gov.uk and we will do our best to assist you. If you have the NGT Texting app installed on your laptop, PC or smartphone, then please use this app to contact us on 18001 (0330 222 8735).

We are committed to making this website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. Please view the West Sussex County Council Accessibility Statement, for further details. Where it exists, we will provide details of any project related content which is not fully accessible under a heading of 'Non-accessible content' below.

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact us at haveyoursay@westsussex.gov.uk .


Survey web browser compatibility

Please use one of the browsers below when completing the survey to ensure it looks and works as it should. These are:

· Microsoft Edge version 86 and above

· Chrome version 86 and above

· Firefox version 78 and above

· Safari version 14 and above

Overview

Please Note: We have arranged an on-line engagement event to be held at 6pm on Wednesday 28th September 2022. Further details and how to sign up are provided in the sections below.

West Sussex County Council (WSCC) has identified the need to provide additional specialist school places for children and young people with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs (SEMH). To address this, the Council is proposing that two new Special Free Schools should open providing up to 260 places from September 2026. The Department for Education (DfE) is in the process of accepting applications for new Special Free Schools and the Council plans to submit two bids as part of this process.

The DfE is allowing each local authority in the country the option to submit a maximum of two bids for new Special Free Schools by the application deadline of midday on 21 October 2022. Under existing Government legislation all new schools must be Free Schools (Academies). In this case the schools will be designed and built by the DfE but there is an expectation that WSCC will provide suitable sites.

There are many steps to take before the proposed new schools could open including further periods of formal consultation once a sponsor has been approved by the Secretary of State for Education; The key milestones are as follows:

  • September 2022: Initial local authority pre-consultation engagement (this process)
  • October 2022: Submission of full special free school applications to the DfE
  • December 2022 / January 2023: Successful applicants announced by the DfE, and School Specifications published
  • February 2023: Academy trusts (prospective sponsors) submit their applications; LA and DfE begins to assess them
  • May 2023: Short-list interviews with successful academy trusts, LA and DfE
  • May 2023 / June 2023: LAs submit recommendations to the Secretary of State for Education and Regional Schools Commissioner
  • Summer 2023: DfE announce successful academy trusts, DfE project delivery and pre-opening activity starts
  • 2026/2027: New special free schools open to first intake of pupils

In West Sussex, numbers of secondary school-age children with SEMH identified as a primary need has increased. The forecasts suggest that numbers will continue to grow over the next eight years.

Please note that this pre-consultation will end on 7 October 2022 with an online event added for 28 September 2022, 6-7pm.

Why your views matter

Do you have a child with SEMH needs? We want to hear your views on our proposals to open two new schools for young people aged 11 to 19 with SEMH needs in West Sussex.

Do you work with young people with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs in West Sussex? We want to hear your views on our proposals to open two new schools for young people with SEMH needs in West Sussex.

Online meetings

If you would like to find out more, please register to join our online engagement event planned for:

Wednesday 28 September from 6pm to 7pm (Click here to join the meeting)



Accessibility Statement:

If you require any of the information for this project in an alternative format, please contact us on 0330 222 8735 or email Kathryn.Kellagher@westsussex.gov.uk and we will do our best to assist you. If you have the NGT Texting app installed on your laptop, PC or smartphone, then please use this app to contact us on 18001 (0330 222 8735).

We are committed to making this website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. Please view the West Sussex County Council Accessibility Statement, for further details. Where it exists, we will provide details of any project related content which is not fully accessible under a heading of 'Non-accessible content' below.

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact us at haveyoursay@westsussex.gov.uk .


Survey web browser compatibility

Please use one of the browsers below when completing the survey to ensure it looks and works as it should. These are:

· Microsoft Edge version 86 and above

· Chrome version 86 and above

· Firefox version 78 and above

· Safari version 14 and above

  • CLOSED: This survey has concluded.

    Applications for two new SEMH Special Free Schools

    Data Privacy Statement

    The Inclusion and SEND Team will use this survey to collect some personal data (e.g. name) in order to fulfil a statutory duty. The information we collect will be processed in accordance with the 2018 Data Protection Act, the General Data Protection Regulations and any relevant subsequent legislation.  The information we collect will not be used for any other purpose and will be stored electronically for a period of up to two years before being appropriately destroyed.  

    West Sussex County Council is registered as Data Controller (Reg. No. Z6413427). For further details and information about our Data Controller, please visit our website.

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Page last updated: 08 Nov 2022, 10:06 AM