I read with interest in her recent column about Jess Brown-Fuller MP’s visit to staff and pupils at Jessie Younghusband School in Chichester, ahead of their move to a new site on the Minerva Heights development in September.
West Sussex County Council has led on work to relocate the school and invest in the future of education for children and young people across Chichester.
The plans will provide a fantastic new facility to help children at Jessie Younghusband fulfil their potential at a key part of their learning journey, and at the same time enable St Anthony’s Special School to expand into the vacated building. This relatively low-cost expansion will not only create much needed additional places for children with moderate learning needs aged between 4 and 16, but also makes excellent long-term use of existing resources.
It was disappointing, however, to read Mrs Brown-Fuller’s view that “both the school staff and the parents were let down by West Sussex County Council” while claiming there was “a lack of consultation, transparency and involvement of the school’s community in the decision-making process.”
I can assure Mrs Brown-Fuller that a thorough consultation process was undertaken, and any suggestion to the contrary is unfair and inaccurate.
An initial informal public consultation took place over a seven-week period in December 2023 and January 2024. There were 624 responses to our survey, and we gave due consideration to all the feedback we received.
We also held sessions at both schools, which allowed us to meet parents and carers and hear their views.
This helped inform our statutory proposals for the relocation of Jessie Younghusband School, which were published in April 2024. This was followed by another four-week consultation period, allowing stakeholders an opportunity to comment on the plans.
We remain committed to consulting with our communities on decisions such as this, and to remain transparent and open throughout the decision-making process.
I hope Mrs Brown-Fuller will return to the school once pupils and staff have settled into their new surroundings, so that she can see the significant benefits that this upcoming move will bring.
Councillor Jacquie Russell,
West Sussex County Council Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Learning and Skills.