Laura Eden, Newham Council's Corporate Director of Children and Young People’sservices, has awarded the contract for the construction of a new building at JFK Beckton Special school to Apex Contractors Ltd. The contract, worth £5,517,663, will see the creation of a new standalone building at the school, providing 20 new school places for students with complex autism. The decision was made after considering alternative sites and consulting with stakeholders, and is part of the council's commitment to providing high-quality education for all children in Newham.

Award of Contract for JFK Beckton Special School Expansion

The Officer Key Decision meeting on the 31st July 2024 saw the awarding of the contract for the second phase of the expansion of JFK Beckton special school to Apex Contractors Ltd.

The meeting approved both the awarding of the Stage 2 Design and Build Contract to Apex Contractors Ltd, and the variation of the contract to account for a final price of £5,517,663. This variation increased the originally agreed budget by £1,273,011. £1,306,531 of additional funding has been found, however, resulting in a final surplus of £33,520. The new standalone building will provide 20 school places for children with complex autism and will be completed by August 2025.

The decision to award this contract was made in light of the council's legal duty to provide sufficient school places for all pupils, as stipulated by Section 14(1) of the Education Act 1996.

In compliance with Section 14(1) of the Education Act 1996 the Council shall ensure that sufficient schools for providing primary and secondary education in its area and sufficient in this context means in respect of number, character and equipment to provide for all pupils the opportunity of appropriate education.

The council has also committed to providing high quality education for all children in the borogh as part of its Local Area SEND and Inclusion Strategy 2023-28.

To give all our children the best start in life and Newham to be the most child friendly borough, plus enable all our children and young people to reach their potential, be safe, be happy and healthy regardless of their background.

The new building has also been designed to be energy efficient in line with the council's commitment to minimising its environmental impact and meeting the requirements of its climate emergency declaration. The new building will comply with the BREAM environmental standard for buildings.

All of our projects comply with The London Plan and Newham’s planning requirements meeting a significant reduction inenergy use and carbon emissions. As required by planning we will meet the necessary BREAM rating.

Background

This decision represents the second phase of work at the school following an earlier Officer Key Decision in June 2023. The first phase saw the refurbishment of existing classrooms in the school building.

The need for the expansion of JFK Beckton was established by the council's SEND capital programme, which was approved in November 2022. This programme determined that there is a significant deficit of school places for children with Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC), especially in the secondary school age group. This has resulted in over 100 Newham resident children being educated in schools outside of the borough. This expansion aims to address this shortage. The need for additional provision for children with ASC was also a finding of the joint Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) SEND area inspection in 2021.

The expansion of JFK Beckton school was chosen instead of expanding provision at other schools in the borough. The report considered expanding provision at the JFK Stratford school, but it was decided that this would not be appropriate due to the different needs of the students at each site. The report noted that JFK Stratford school,

...provides education for children with PMLD and/or complex needs, therefore it would not be ideal to merge the two cohorts of children and young people together due to their very different needs and requirements.

The possibility of expanding provision at the vacant Paul Street Education site, next to School 21, was also explored, but it was decided that the site would not be big enough.

Ultimately, the expansion of JFK Beckton was decided to be the best option because,

...it will expand on the existing ASD provision. It was agreed that the school could draw on the knowledge, experience and support of the specialist teaching staff on site that and they would be able to provide the needs of this cohort of students.

Consultation

The report notes that Councillor Sarah Ruiz, Cabinet Lead Member for Children’s Social Care and Education, and Laura Eden have both been consulted on the proposals in the report. It also describes how, in Autumn 2021, Newham Council undertook a series of engagement activities with Early Years providers, schools, parents and carers to help inform the development of SEND provision across the borough.

An Equality Impact Assessment was also carried out. The assessment concluded that the expansion of JFK Beckton would advance equality of opportunity for people with protected characteristics.

Based upon this assessment, the proposal is robust- there is no potential for discrimination. Opportunities for advancing equality of opportunities and promoting good community relations have been taken - no further action required.