Parks Special School in Oakham to close at the end of the school year
Rutland County Councillors unanimously voted on the decision the morning
Last updated 11th Jan 2024
Rutland County Council have unanimously voted to close The Parks Special Nursery School in Oakham, taking effect August 2024.
Councillors met this morning to discuss the outcome of a public consultation on the future of The Parks Special Nursery School.
It's after the final report by Maureen Morris, brought in as an independent reviewer to oversee the consultation process, supported the proposal to close the school.
Plans to close it had been met with strong opposition, with protestors gathering in an effort to save the school.
A petition against plans to shut it down also gathered over a thousand signatures.
READ MORE: "Horrified" parents' petition to 'save' The Parks School reaches 1,400 signatures
READ MORE: Protestors gather to save special needs school in Oakham
Concerns about The Parks were first brought to the Council's attention after a group of independent SEND professionals found there were issues with keeping provision going.
Places at the Parks cost substantially more than SEND support in mainstream settings and the nursery has very small pupil cohorts, making it increasingly unviable, RCC say.
RCC say there are no children accessing a special nursery place this academic year and the Council is not aware of any children of nursery age needing specialist nursery provision from September 2024.