Shadow cast on Lyndale's future (From Wirral Globe)

Shadow cast on Lyndale's future

8:41am Wednesday 28th June 2006 in Search By Geoff Barnes

THE shadow of closure has been cast over Lyndale, the special school that thousands of people across Wirral have taken to their hearts.

Tens of thousands of pounds have been contributed by readers to Lyndale initiatives backed by the Globe - including a £75,000 sensory garden and water feature designed to help special needs youngsters develop their senses of touch and sound.

Now a review of special school provision is likely to be ordered this week, which could lead to the Eastham-based school being merged with another.

The Globe understands that Lyndale's future could be at serious risk because of possible cuts in the number of pupils attending the school, which could lead to a loss of funding.

There are fears that within two years, Lyndale will be merged with another special needs school, the two operating as a single unit on a site yet to be fixed. Tory group leader Cllr Jeff Green vowed to resist any measures to cut back on special education provision.

He said: "I have always championed the special schools sector and my view has always been that these schools do an outstanding job dealing with very special children.

"In the past we have always been able to fight off proposals to close special schools and I am sure we will be able to do the same."

Cllr Jeff Green

"I would strongly resist any recommendation to close special schools such as Lyndale."

Cllr Green went on: "In the past we have always been able to fight off proposals to close special schools and I am sure we will be able to do the same.

"When I was chairman of the education select committee proposals came forward which put Kilgarth Special School in Birkenhead under threat and we were able to fight them off. I have just seen a recent Ofsted report about the school and it was excellent."

Cllr Phil Davies, cabinet member for education and lifelong learning, said: "There are proposals from the director (Howard Cooper) that we embark on a review of our special schools in the same way that we have started a review of our primary schools.

"It will look at numbers and whether there is sufficient gain from changed arrangements.

"It will look at our special schools in an objective way.

"Our main priority is to ensure that pupils get the best possible education."

In a report to tonight's cabinet meeting Howard Cooper indicated that a recent review recommended that Wirral should "increase the inclusion into mainstream schools of children and young people with learning difficulties and dis-abilities."

Cllr Davies added: "A report to council cabinet tonight (Wednesday) is asking for the director to be given permission to carry out a review. It would be completely unfair to speculate on the outcome of this review relating to Lyndale or any of our special schools."

In a report on the issue to tonight's cabinet meeting Howard Cooper indicated that a recent joint area review recommended that Wirral should "increase the inclusion into mainstream schools of children and young people with learning difficulties and disabilities."

The report adds: "Although the current provision in mainstream and special schools is well regarded, a number of areas for further development have been raised by head teachers in consultation with officers. It is suggested that these areas need to be reviewed in response to the changing complexity and numbers of children; elements of duplication and the longer-term suitability of accommodation.

"Opportunities also need to be sought to co-locate special school provision on a mainstream campus."

Since the Globe adopted Lyndale as a special charity in January 2003 readers have contributed almost £100,000 towards the school's sensory garden project. A £15,000 donation was made by the Gannett Foundation Trust, the charitable arm of the Globe's US-based parent company.