By Anna Whittaker, Local Democracy Reporter
A Nottinghamshire special school which was forced to close following an inspection from education watchdog Ofsted before opening under a new trust is now set to be expanded.
Fountaindale School, between Mansfield and Ravenshead, will accept 16 new pupils from January 2024.
The school previously operated under the name ‘Harlow Academy’ which was closed down in August 2022.
It followed a number of “serious safeguarding matters” being found during a visit by Ofsted inspectors, which said pupils were not being kept safe and were at risk of “immediate and imminent harm”.
The school, which was run by the Evolve Trust, was closed down following the concerns.
The building has since re-opened as Fountaindale School, under the Nexus Multi Academy Trust.
Now, Nottinghamshire County Council documents show that the school is set to be expanded by 16 places.
The total cost of the project is estimated at £380,824.
Nexus Multi Academy Trust will fund £200,000 and the county council will provide £180,824 to support the “expansion and improvement to the school”.
The authority said extra special educational needs and disability (SEND) places are “much needed”.
County council documents stated: “A proposal has been received from Nexus Multi Academy Trust to create additional teaching space at Fountaindale by extending the school to create three large teaching spaces and a large lounge/kitchenette space for post-16 provision and allow further reconfiguration in existing space to create expansion.
“A phased approach is planned which would give capacity for an additional 16 children to join the setting in January 2024, providing quality transitions for both existing and new children.”
At a county council meeting on October 16, councillors questioned why more was not done at Harlow Academy before Ofsted intervened.
A review into the situation by Dr Mark Peel has since been completed, which led to a report published in June.
The review concluded there is “considerable hurt and anger in the parent and carer community about what has happened”.
The report found during the autumn 2021 term, there were 20 incidents of concern reported about care at the school.
The review concluded Nottinghamshire County Council, the healthcare trust and Nottinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group did not put a process in place to address the safeguarding concerns.
Fountaindale School has not yet been inspected by Ofsted.
