A school is set to shut after an application for it to merge with an academy trust was thrown out by government education chiefs.
Bradstow School in Broadstairs, which supports children on the autism spectrum with severe disabilities, is now facing complete closure and a consultation is set to begin next month.
Wandsworth Council has been supporting Bradstow School with an academy application to the Department for Education (DfE) with the Cygnus Academies Trust to allow the school to remain open.
But the school’s proposed closure is set to progress to the next stage after the DfE was unable to approve plans for it to become an academy.
Wandsworth Council’s cabinet member for children’s services, Judi Gasser, said: “This is not the result we wanted, and we have worked tirelessly to secure a different outcome by working closely with all parties involved to support this application.
“Sadly, this leaves us with no option but to commence the formal consultation on the closure of the school at the start of the new academic year to give families, councils and school staff clarity on the next steps.
“In collaboration with the parents, we have secured offers of alternative placements for the two Wandsworth children still attending the school and have invested £41 million since 2021 in ensuring that children with special educational needs can access high quality support locally.
“Our priority is to ensure that any transition, if the decision goes ahead, is smooth and that children continue to receive high-quality, specialised support.
“We thank Bradstow’s dedicated staff for their invaluable service over the years and will work with them closely throughout this process.”
The government department is also looking into alternatives to closing the school during the consultation period, which runs from September 1 to September 28.
Meanwhile, Wandsworth Council says it is committed to supporting children with SEND locally, keeping them educated and cared for within Wandsworth or as close to their homes as possible.
It comes after a report and an announcement last November by Wandsworth Council, which maintains the Dumpton Park Drive site, proposed the closure amid financial pressures.
The cash-strapped authority said Kent County Council (KCC) “refused to pay” almost £2 million it owes to help provide safe support for pupils.
However, KCC disputed this, claiming there is “no legal basis” for the argument that it owed the London borough money.
The report stated: “KCC has the largest number of children placed at the provision.
“They are refusing to pay in the region of £2m of fees owed, a combination of not accepting inflationary uplifts nor paying for extra support required to ensure that their children can be supported safely.”
Opened in 1990, following the abolition of the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA), the school consists of five children’s homes, two boarding homes and a special school.
In November, it had 33 youngsters with intellectual disabilities alongside emotional and behavioural challenges on its books aged between five and 19.
In total, 15 local authorities were using the school for pupils, with KCC accommodating 14 of them.
But the number of overall pupils has since reduced to just two.
Wandsworth Council’s children’s overview and scrutiny committee voted in favour of the closure after an official report revealed it had recorded a deficit of £1.7m at the end of the 2024/25 financial year.
The papers state that if the school had remained open, the financial black hole would have continued to grow.
A proposal was underway to potentially transfer the school as a maintained provision to KCC for more than two years, meaning the services for pupils would continue.
Wandsworth Council stated KCC was also offered the full ownership of the land, property and buildings as part of the transfer discussions.
But last October 15, KCC notified Wandsworth Council it was not interested in pursuing this option despite discussions being on the cards since November 2021.
This was said to be due to the financial investment required to make the building fit for purpose and the risk it would take to sustain the school.
Now, KCC says its priority is to find new schools for Kent pupils at the Thanet school.
But a spokesperson said the authority could not comment further due to ongoing legal proceedings regarding the £2m dispute with Wandsworth Council.
An Ofsted rating in June 2023 saw Bradstow scoop an overall ‘Outstanding’ grade.
However, the school was then rated as ‘Requires Improvement’ overall and in the leadership category in May 2024 despite maintaining its ‘Outstanding’ score across all other categories.
