We the undersigned petition South Gloucestershire council to 

(i)               Review proposed closure of the Access Centre, a specialist provision co-located on the Chipping Sodbury Secondary mainstream School site; in the context of regional SEND provision.

(ii)              Stop the closure of the Access Centre until a full equality impact assessment has been conducted, in consultation with parents and education providers. To establish the effects of the changes on the short- and long-term outcomes of the autistic children attending the School now and prospective children whom could have used this provision, each with significant mental health concerns; and the wider equality impact.

(iii)            Conduct a thorough investigation into the impact and risks of harm as a result of the proposed 2023-2024 safety valve budget agreement; on the health and safety of pupils of Access Centres, Special Schools and Resource bases, their teachers and other pupils. Provide a report on the number of incidents at, or failures to provide education directly or indirectly a consequence of the re-banding / safety valve being implemented in 2022-23.

We also respectfully request the transparency of this review, in consultation with all persons who may be impacted by the planned reduction of SEND provision in the region.

The Access Centre in Chipping Sodbury is a unique, very small and highly specialist provision in the local area. It offers provision for autistic young people of mainstream academic ability, whose extremely high anxiety levels and environmental sensory impacts act as a barrier to mainstream secondary school attendance. 

There are no expectations that Access Centre pupils attend the co-located mainstream Secondary school, as there are in resource base provisions. 

These students have full access to the curriculum offered in the mainstream school, with the specialist mainstream subject teachers coming into the Access Centre to deliver their lessons. The stories of pupils either currently or previously attending the school have been ones of complete transformation. 

Students whose parents have been told by doctors that they are unlikely to live independently are looking forwards to a future filled with hope and possibilities: independent living, family and friends, and fulfilling employment where they can play their economic role.

This life-changing provision is now at significant risk and its full closure is planned for September 2024. The centre is run by a highly experienced and skilled specialist teacher, whose expertise, skills and vision alongside her specialist skilled staff, have been instrumental in turning around the lives of highly anxious autistic young people since 2014. 

Students whose lives are in the process of being turned around, will be asked to transfer to alternative placements, with all manner of expectations that these students simply will not manage. Some of these students would even have been embarking on their GCSEs in the first year of closure. 

There has been no concern shown for the individual risks to these young people, or indeed those who hoped to join as new students this September 2023. The potential impact on their social, emotional and mental health will be huge, alongside a complete narrowing of their educational opportunities going forwards. 

The Access Centre is the first of many of the SEND provisions impacted by the Banding and Safety valve agreements in South Gloucestershire. After one term of the new budget plans, there is a potential for many closures over the coming years. 

We ask you to sign to #SaveourAC and potential for impact on all SEND specialist Access Centres, Resource Bases and Special schools in South Gloucestershire.