Brighton Building To Get £400k Revamp For Children With SEMH Needs

Councillors have agreed to refurbish a disused building to provide for children with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs.

They agreed to spend £400,000 on a makeover of St George’s House, in Dyke Road, Brighton, which was used by the council’s “pupil referral unit” until last July and is currently empty.

Brighton and Hove City Council wants to use the Dyke Road site from September for secondary pupils with education, health and care plans (EHCP) linked to SEMH needs.

Those pupils would otherwise have been sent to Homewood College, in Brighton, which was rated “inadequate” by Ofsted and was due to turned into an “academy” but looks increasingly likely to close.

A report to the council’s Children, Families and Schools Committee said:

“At Homewood College, there is an academy order in place but no academy trust has been found that is willing to sponsor the school.

“Despite support to the school, serious issues remain and consequently the council proposes that pupils will no longer be placed there from September 2024 and will not be for the foreseeable future.

“The council therefore needs to open provision quickly for pupils with EHC plans for SEMH who will not have placements in September 2024 and proposes to refurbish St George’s House, in Dyke Road, which was in use by the Pupil Referral Unit until July 2023.

“This site will offer a blend of tuition and ‘alternative provision’ for older secondary pupils with EHC plans for SEMH.

“This is a priority for the council as there would be significant adverse consequences if this site was not available, not only for pupils, but also in the costs of placing these pupils in the independent and non-maintained sector where fees are very much higher than in council provision.”

When the committee met at Hove Town Hall last Thursday (29 February), Jo Lyons, the council’s assistant director for children, families and learning, said:

“We’ve done a lot of work to work out what we’re going to need going forward.

“We know there is a massive growth of need in that area. We will need lots of different provisions of different sizes so it’s not a one size fits all.”

Green councillor Sue Shanks questioned whether St George’s House was a suitable building for children with SEMH.

Councillor Shanks said:

“I thought there was a decision not to use it any more and now we seem to be putting our most vulnerable children there. I don’t understand the logic of that.

“We may well have other classrooms in other schools because the schools’ (admission) numbers are down.

“(St George’s House) was a capital asset I thought was down for disposal. Now we’re spending quite a lot of money on that. I don’t see the logic of that.

“These children haven’t been well served by Homewood for a long time. We really need to make sure they’re going to be in a good place.”

Labour councillor Jacob Taylor, the co-chair of the committee, was positive about the location which is in the centre of Brighton and close to several bus routes.