Proposal to remove language facility at Churchfields Infants' School

Overview

Churchfields Infants’ School is a four-form entry (4FE) Community Infant School, which accommodates children from Year N1 to Year 2. The school has a Published Admission Number (PAN) of 120 and admits up to this number each year into its Year R. In addition, the school has a nursery, with a distinct capacity of 90 pupils. The school therefore has an overall capacity of 450 pupils.

The school nursery incorporates a Language Facility ARP as part of its main roll, which is the focus of this consultation. This facility currently provides 16 part-time places across Nursery 1 to Nursery 2, for children with moderate to severe Specific Language Impairment (SLI).

Proposal

The London Borough of Redbridge is proposing to remove the Language Facility ARP at the nursery element of Churchfields Infants’ School. If approved, the plan is to formally cease to maintain the Language Facility from 1 September 2022.

No children have attended this facility since September 2020. All children previously attending the facility have successfully transitioned to mainstream school settings and are receiving appropriate support within this setting. As such, this proposal represents the formal confirmation of a closure that is already practically in effect.

Additional information

We appreciate you taking the time to complete this short consultation as your input is invaluable. If you wish to find out full details on the proposed consultation, please read through the attached consultation document below. 

In addition, the Council will be holding a public meeting where you can express your views, obtain more information and have your questions answered. The public meeting will be held at Churchfield Infants’ School on Wednesday 26^th January 2022 at 6.00 p.m.

Following the completion of the consultation period, the decision on whether to formally approve the proposal will be referred to the Cabinet Committee in March 2022. The outcome of the consultation process and the decision taken will be published on the Council website.

The responses received as part of this consultation exercise will be collated and fed into the decision making process. Should it be decided to proceed, the intention would be to implement the proposal for September 2022.