The Department for Education have recently announced that Selworthy Special School in Taunton will receive a full upgrade through the Government’s School Rebuilding Programme. Selworthy Special School on the Oakhill Campus educates children of primary school age with learning disabilities.  

In September 2023, Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow invited Education Minister Baroness Barran to visit the school after it was discovered that reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) had been used on part of its site. Minister Barran visited to fully understand the impact of RAAC on Selworthy school life and see the safety measures which had been put in place. She was also able to speak personally with executive headteacher Mark Ruffett and Oak Partnership Trust chief executive Ian Robinson. 

For schools joining the School Rebuilding Programme, like Selworthy, the Department for Education (DfE) will procure a contractor to design the school, secure planning permission and carry out the necessary works. 

Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow said: 

“Whilst the RAC issue was concerning, out of this situation has come a really positive outcome in terms of Selworthy Special school now being allocated for a complete rebuild. This much valued school deserves a modern, fit for purpose upgrade and I am absolutely delighted to have worked with the superb Oak Partnership Trust team at Selworthy and the Department for Education to come up with this sensible and welcome decision which has been swiftly made. I shall be working to ensure progress is made and that suitable temporary facilities are in place for the pupils in the interim period.”

Ian Robinson, Ian Robinson, Chief Executive Officer, The Oak Partnership Trust said:

“It goes without saying how pleased we are to be on the Department for Education’s School Rebuilding Programme. We are also grateful to civil servants and ministers for recognising the need for this rebuild.

The Oak Partnership Trust has had as one of its ambitions, from its formation in January 2019, to work with the DfE and Somerset Council on securing a rebuild for Selworthy Special School. This need was amplified when our secondary age pupils moved to a new build in September 2019.

The discovery of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in August 2023, on the Oakhill Primary Campus, was only the latest in a long list of challenges on a school site that is no longer fit for purpose to meet the needs of some of Somerset’s most vulnerable primary age children.

We were grateful that Baroness Barran (Minister for the School System and Student Finance) and Rebecca Pow MP visited the school in the Autumn and recognised the wider challenges of the Oakhill Primary Campus of Selworthy Special School.

We are extremely grateful to our DfE colleagues, who have worked tirelessly in helping us to mitigate the immediate impact of RAAC and supporting us with medium term solutions.

We are looking forward to working not only with the DfE, but also with Somerset Council so that out of this RAAC adversity we can build bigger and build better so that we can better meet the needs of more children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.”