'Moral duty' to save special school, say parents

Paul O'Dwyer says his son, Henry, has benefitted from residential care at Bradstow School

Parents of children who attend a residential special school which is at risk of closure in Kent say there is a "moral and societal duty" to keep it open.

Wandsworth Borough Council, which runs Bradstow School in Broadstairs, previously said a "challenging financial landscape" meant it had begun consulting on the school's closure.

Fifteen local authorities have children placed at the school, which has 33 pupils. Of those, 13 are from Kent County Council (KCC).

Parents are now fighting to save the school, which is earmarked for closure in August 2025, and a petition has received more than 1,400 signatures.

Bradstow School has been running since 1990

The petition says it is "a moral and societal duty to put the interests, care, development and future prospects of vulnerable young people and their families front and centre in all considerations about school and care provisions".

Tonbridge-based Paul O'Dwyer, whose 13-year-old son Henry is a resident at the school, said: "Out of nowhere, Wandsworth [Borough] Council sent a letter to say they intended to close the school.

"All of the cohort have severe and complex special needs. The majority are non-verbal.

"The pupils will be forced into day school or they would just be cared for at home. It would set them back years."

Wandsworth said it had been working with KCC since 2021 to explore potentially transferring the provision, but KCC had recently decided not to go ahead.

There are 27 residential pupils and six day pupils at Bradstow School

The school had a budget of £15-16m for the last academic year, when it had 63 pupils. This dropped to between £11-12m for this year.

Parents say reducing staff levels to reflect the reduction in pupils would help save money.

A spokesperson for Wandsworth said: "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."

A spokesperson for KCC told the BBC the authority had no plans to take on the school and would instead focus on "supporting pupils to integrate smoothly into their new provision".