John AyresBBC Devon, Torquay
BBCA special school which supports children with moderate learning difficulties (MLD) and autism is set to switch its focus entirely to autism.
It follows an Ofsted area inspection which highlighted Torbay was not meeting the needs of children with Special Educational Needs (Send).
If plans are approved by the Department for Education, all pupils in the September 2026 intake at Combe Pafford School, Torquay, will need a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC).
A statement from the school, Torbay Local Authority and the Special Partnership Trust said all existing pupils would continue at Combe Pafford but the new intake of children with MLD would have their needs met in mainstream schools.
A joint statement from Combe Pafford School, Torbay Local Authority and the Special Partnership Trust said Torbay, like many other areas regionally and nationally, had seen a huge rise in children and young people diagnosed with ASC.
It said Torbay’s Send partnership was committed to ensuring it could meet changing Send needs, therefore Combe Pafford was proposing “a gradual change to supporting autism”.
It continued: “Combe Pafford School is very well placed to make this transition with almost half of the current children and young people having a diagnosis of autism.”
“As there has previously not been a designated special school for autism in Torbay, this is welcome news for children with autism who have struggled to have their needs met in large mainstream environments.”
Parents who have children at Combe Pafford School have expressed concern that pupils with MLD who are not already at the school will miss out.
“Georgie didn’t cope in the mainstream primary school she was in before,” her mother Tania said. “They did the best they could but it wasn’t the right fit for her.”
“Georgie only has MLD as her diagnosis, so for a child like Georgie she wouldn’t get the chance to attend Combe Pafford.”
“There are going to be hundreds more children in the same position that aren’t going to get the same chances that Georgie has been able to have,” she added.
Michelle Wheeler has a child at Combe Pafford in Year 7 and had moderate learning difficulties herself when at school.
She said she feared children with MLD would struggle in mainstream schools.
“I went to mainstream school and I struggled,” she said.
“I wanted my son to go to a special school like this school here. I got him into Year 3 and I want my son to have a future that I never had.”
“Since he’s been here he’s come on such a long way,” she added.
‘Mainstream inclusion’
Combe Pafford, Torbay Local Authority and the Special Partnership Trust said they were “committed to creating a stronger, more joined-up inclusive system supporting the changing picture of SEND for children, families, and schools across Torbay”.
“This proposal would see capital investment to support this change,” it said.
“The Special Partnership Trust, SEND experts in special school provision, are supporting the school with this change as well as supporting mainstream inclusion in the local area, where the support for MLD will be strengthened so that all Torbay children can have their outcomes met.”
The Department for Education will consider the evidence and the results of a consultation and will make a decision early next year.
