Proposal to expand Hatton and Little Heath Schools

Hatton School and Special Needs Centre is a 191-place Special School. The school provides for pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), accommodating children with communication and interaction needs, principally Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN), from ages 3 to 11. Little Heath School is a 195-place Special School. The school provides for pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), accommodating children with communication and interaction needs, principally Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN), from ages 11 to 19. Hatton and Little Heath effectively serve cohorts with corresponding need types, with the former providing primary places that then typically transition to secondary places at the latter.

The London Borough of Redbridge is proposing to expand both Hatton and Little Heath onto an additional site at 22 Park Avenue, Ilford IG1 4RS, effective from 1 September 2024. The idea is to create an effective “middle school” model, whereby all of Year 6, Year 7 and Year 8 are moved to the new site. This would create 42 new places at Hatton and 70 new places at Little Heath. The Year 6 pupils would remain on roll at Hatton and the Year 7 and 8 pupils on roll at Little Heath, meaning that both schools would effectively then function as “split-site” provisions.

The London Borough of Redbridge would like to know what the community thinks about this proposal and you can provide feedback via the online questionnaire on this page.

We are going to hold a public meeting where you can express your views, obtain more information and have your questions answered. The details of the meeting are as follows:

Location: Former Park School for Girls, 22 Park Avenue, Ilford IG1 4RS

Date: Monday 18 September 2023

Time: 6pm