PARENTS and young people are being asked for their views on proposals to turn a residential special school with falling numbers into a co-education day school.

North Yorkshire County Council is consulting on an option to broaden the intake of Brompton Hall School, near Scarborough, to also include girls and young people who identify as non-binary.

The move would offer more places to pupils with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs.

The council now wants to hear from different groups, including parents, carers, professionals and young people.

Brompton Hall School currently offers education and residential places four nights a week to boys aged eight to 16 with SEMH needs.

The consultation will also seek people’s views on whether the school should offer daytime education only and increase the number of places on offer.

Brompton Hall has experienced significant challenges and a steady decline in demand for residential placements, from 38 to 29 in the last three years, which is expected to continue.

The council’s ambition is for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities in North Yorkshire to have the opportunity to attend a school or provision in their community where they can make friends, put down roots and continue to live with their family wherever possible.

As a result, a review was carried out into the benefits and disadvantages of continuing to offer residential places at Brompton Hall.

Two proposals were drawn up for its future.

A report, detailing the review into the provision at Brompton Hall and the case for and against keeping it as a single-sex residential school, went before the council’s executive members on January 25.

Members agreed to go ahead with a public consultation on the proposals.

  • The first option involves continuing to provide residential placements, according to the current criteria.
  • The second, recommended, option is to phase out the current residential provision and to stop offering places from September 2024. Instead, the school would offer co-educational, daytime education and increase its number of available places.

Despite the decline in demand for residential school places, there is still a strong demand for day, or extended day places for children with social, emotional and mental health needs and to provide much-needed provision for girls.

North Yorkshire’s assistant director of inclusion, Jane le Sage said: “After looking at all the issues surrounding day and residential provision at Brompton Hall School, we feel that having a school which can offer high-quality education to more pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs in the Ryedale and Scarborough area is a great opportunity.

"Furthermore, we can make that education available to boys, girls and pupils who identify as non-binary.

“We are encouraging people to share their views with us by attending the online events, or filling in the survey.”

People can find out more here where they can share their views by filing in an online survey.

Details of online events will be taking place throughout the consultation can also be found on the page.