Dear Consultee
Consultation on the proposal to open a SEND Unit at Overdale Infant School from January 2026
Academy Trusts proposing to make a “significant change” to schools are required to undertake a fair and open local consultation for a period of four weeks.
The purpose of this consultation is to seek the views of parents, carers and other interested stakeholders on the proposal:
To open a SEND unit within the grounds of Overdale Infant School.
The public consultation on the proposal will run from 09/06/2025 until midday on Monday 07/07/2025.
Since the introduction of the Children & Families Act in 2014, Leicestershire has seen an increase in the number of Education, Health & Care (EHC) Assessments, which has resulted in a significant increase in the number of EHC plans (EHCP) maintained by the Local Authority. Some of the increase has been caused by the age range being extended from 2 to 19 years to 0–25 years, but not all is due to this age range increase. The increase in requests for assessment since 2014 has been over 77% higher than before the Children’s & Families Act was introduced.
The SEND Code of Practice 2014 provides statutory guidance on duties, policies and procedures relating to Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014 and associated regulations. It focusses on early intervention, parental engagement and inclusion.
Following reviews by Leicester City Council and the local authority of the provision for the Special Educational Needs (SEN) for children in the city, their vision for education providers is to follow an inclusive approach to all children. To support this, The OAK Multi Academy Trust propose to open a Primary SEN unit at the Overdale schools site from 01/01/2026. The site of the unit will be within the grounds of Overdale Infant School.
The school will be commissioned to provide a unit as an offer beyond that of mainstream provision.
A bespoke package of support within the specialist unit will be the most appropriate provision for pupils in the unit. The aim of the provision is to ensure the continued education of young people in a supportive, positive, achievement-focused environment. This will enable them to achieve in line with their ability and make progress against the outcomes within their Education, Health & Care Plan.
Staff who have the appropriate skills, knowledge and training to support pupils to access this bespoke package will ensure a high-quality curriculum which includes an element of integration with the infant and junior schools where appropriate.
The service will provide education and support placements of up to 20 full-time pupils at any one time. Commissioned places are as follows:
- Number: 20 in total. This will be phased: in the first year, 10 places will be available. This will increase to 20 places in a phased manner over a maximum of 36 months.
- Age range: 4-11
- Pupils will work within stage rather than age-based criteria whilst attending the unit. To support inclusion, pupils in chronological years 3 to 6 will have provision at Overdale Junior School.
The service will be for young people who require support with appropriate issues which are identified as communication and interaction. The majority of the time will be spent within the SEND unit with additional, appropriate integration as determined by the leadership of the unit and school. The pupils may be able to progress into another DSP or mainstream education setting with timely and appropriate interventions.
Access to the placements into the school will be made via the Local Authority. Leicester City Council and the school will approve applications through a joint panel process. For clarity, attending Overdale Infant or Junior school does not have any bearing on admission to the SEND unit as this admission process is via the local authority.
School Settings
Overdale Infant School has identified two self-contained classrooms within the boundaries of the school that can be used, and an area of outside space at the rear of these classrooms dedicated to the children for physical activity.
It is important to note that neither school will be affected by the implementation of the resource base nor will the current offer to children be impacted.
Staffing
Qualified, experienced staff members will be employed specifically to work in the resource base. The leadership team will be supported by advice and guidance from OAK Multi Academy Trust and a leadership network from the appropriate specialists within the Trust.
The team will work closely with the Headteachers and act in the best interest of the schools and pupils. The local authority provides the funds for the running of the unit, so no money will be diverted from school budgets.
This document is also available to read on Overdale Junior School’s website and OAK Multi Academy Trust website.
Who are we consulting with?
During this consultation period, we want to seek representations from:
- Parents and carers of children already attending the school
- Parents of any other children
- School staff
- Local Primary Schools
- Anyone else who might be affected by the proposed change
What happens next?
This consultation will run until midday on Monday 07/07/2025.
The Senior Leadership at both schools, alongside Leicester City Council, will consider the results of the consultation and decide whether to refer the proposed opening of the SEND Unit to the Department for Education for approval.
How to respond
You are invited to submit comments in writing using the Stakeholder Response form below about the proposal above via email, by post or hand deliver to:
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Overdale Junior School SEND Unit Consultation Eastcourt Road Knighton Leicester LE2 3YA |
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Overdale Infant School SEND Unit Consultation Eastcourt Road Knighton Leicester LE2 3YA |
Yours sincerely
H.Holmes M. Evans
Mrs Hayley Holmes Mr Matt Evans
Headteacher Headteacher
Overdale Infant School Overdale Junior School