The opening of a new special school in Winnersh for Reading and Wokingham Borough pupils could be delayed by more than a year.

Oak Tree Academy School was due to open in September 2022 after receiving planning permission from Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) last month.

But the Department for Education (DfE) told Reading Borough Council (RBC) and WBC the planned opening date of September 2022 is now not possible.

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Councillor Ashley Pearce, RBC’s lead member for Education, said the council will do all it can to help the school open in 2022, but a report from the council children’s services company Brighter Futures for Children (BFfC) suggests even a September 2023 opening date may not be possible.

Discussing the report at the council’s Adult Social Care, Children’s Services and Education committee, Cllr Pearce said: “No places for Reading pupils had been earmarked so there is no initial disappointment but, of course, this is going to have big knock-on effects on placing pupils next year and on our budgets.

“We are of course working with our Wokingham counterparts and the DfE to get this project back on track as soon as possible and are in discussions around funding and accommodating our pupils in other Reading schools if the September 2022 opening date cannot be met.”

The new school for children with special educational needs and disability (SEND) will be run by the Maiden Erlegh Trust and based on farmland off Woodward Close in Winnersh.

It will be attended by 75 pupils from Reading Borough and 75 from Wokingham Borough.

When could the school open?

The BFfC report says on-going conversations are being held by all parties around a revised opening date, which will depend on whether it is necessary to procure a new contractor to build the school.

If re-procurement is not necessary, the school could open in September 2023, but the DfE currently will not commit to this date. If it is necessary to re-procure the contractor, this will delay the opening beyond 2023.

It has raised the question about what schools students who would have attended Oak Tree will now be placed in next year.

Maiden Erlegh Trust “could possibly be willing to open Oak Tree in another school building for one academic year from September 2022 but will not run the school at another site beyond this date”, according to the report.

Funding concerns

If opening the school at the Winnersh site in September 2023 is not considered possible by the end of 2021, children earmarked to attend Oak Tree will instead have to be placed in other schools.

This is likely to be more expensive and impact on funding for children with SEND, which is already stretched.

Lib Dem councillor Meri O’Connell raised concerns at the meeting about the impact on funding and the lack of a set date.

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Cllr Pearce said he could not say much more but, Wokingham counterparts and the MPs for Maidenhead and Reading East are seeking answers from the DfE.

He added: “We wait and see. There will be a contingency plan if it doesn’t open in 2022 but our aim is to get it to open then, by hook or by crook. The ball is in the DFE’s court for that.”