West Sussex special school withdraws secondary education
- Published
Brantridge School, near Haywards Heath, educates boys with conditions including autism and ADHD
The withdrawal of secondary teaching at a West Sussex special school is "the worst thing that could have happened," parents have said.
Brantridge School in Haywards Heath educates boys with social, emotional and mental health difficulties and autistic spectrum conditions.
Plans to build a new secondary school on the site have stalled.
West Sussex Council (WSCC) said it had not been able to reach an agreement with the land owner.
The primary school only started offering teaching to Year 7 in September, and will stop in July - leaving parents struggling to find school places for their children and worried about their futures.
Parents say the decision has left them struggling to find a school place for their child
One parent, Jessica Barham, said she was "very disappointed" and thinks it has caused her son's behaviour to worsen.
Another parent, Sian Juden, said her son Noah attended three schools before he began to "thrive" at Brantridge.
Being told Noah now has to leave has had a "massive detrimental effect on his mental health".
Ms Juden added most of the boys had gone through a "traumatic past" attached with education and having to leave after thinking they would be there until the age of 16 was "the worst thing that could have happened to them."
WSCC said it understands "the disappointment" felt by parents and was working to ensure every child would be found a secondary place "which meets their individual needs."
Plans to build a new secondary school on the site by 2024 stalled, WSCC said it had not been able to reach an agreement with the land owner, Greenwich Council.
Greenwich Council said it had supported WSCC's requests regarding the site "at every stage" and as an education authority, would "never want to stand in the way of another authority's plans."
In a statement, the school said: "Our priority now is to support our current pupils and families to find an appropriate secondary school.
"We will continue to work with West Sussex to determine if a secondary provision can be established here at Brantridge School sometime in the future as we firmly believe that this is in the best interests of our pupils."
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