The people Brentwood have form when it comes to stepping up to support children with special educational needs. Our fabulous local charity, SNAP, started with some families with children who had additional needs deciding they wanted more for their children than was then on offer. SNAP grew from a kitchen table meeting of mums to the highly successfully charity and source of support, advice and activities it is in Brentwood today.
Likewise, Grove House School, which is a specialist school for pupils with speech, language and communication difficulties, started when another group of mums got together to work out how the needs of their children could be met locally.
Last week I had a meeting in Hutton which, I hope, could be the start of another kitchen table odyssey. A group of residents in Hutton, backed by their excellent ward councillors, Keith Barber, Jan Pound and Jay Patel, are campaigning to keep the Bishops Hill Adult Education Centre open for community use, especially its large, historic hall. Bishops Hill started life in 1906 as a school and children’s home for children from Poplar and, for the last fifty years, has been Brentwood’s Adult Education College. But a decision by Essex County Council in April this year – taken without consultation with users and the local community – means the future of the building is now unclear.
I am very keen to see continued use of Bishops Hill for education and have met with the recently formed Bishops Hill Action Group to suggest it could become a centre for special education, places for which in Brentwood are in great need. The Action Group is well organised and keen to keep this historic building open and available for the education and enjoyment of the Brentwood community, and I am supporting them in this aim.
Photos show Alex Burghart MP signing the Bishops Hill Action Group petition, and Alex outside the Bishops Hill Adult Education Centre.
