Urgent Safety & Safeguarding Concerns at Felden Hall School
Discover detailed reports and confidential insights highlighting risks around Felden Hall School.
The Felden Hall School Safety Concern Group have genuine safety concerns concerning the upcoming opening.
Join our community to learn more and raise awareness to Dacorum Borough Council, Witherslack Group and the Department for Education (DfE).
Critical Issues Impacting Local School Safety
At the heart of this issue is a simple and non-negotiable priority: the safety and wellbeing of children.
Residents, parents and local stakeholders are increasingly concerned that key questions around safeguarding and site suitability have not been clearly addressed.
These concerns include:
- Whether sufficient safeguarding measures are in place from day one
- The many thousands of complaints received from parents about the school operator
- How risks to pupils, staff and the surrounding community have been assessed
- Whether the location and infrastructure are appropriate for a school environment
- The potential impact of increased traffic, access routes and congestion on child safety
Safeguarding is not something that can be clarified after the fact. It must be demonstrably robust before any development proceeds, this is not the case for Dacorum Borough Council.
At present, many feel this standard has not been met, or at the very least, has not been transparently communicated.
When it comes to children, there is no space for error or ambiguity.
3000+
Complaints & Safeguarding Concerns Filed for The Witherslack Group.
20+
Parent and Community Meetings Held
15+
Potential Solutions Ignored By Authorities
Planning Concerns & Transparency
A number of serious concerns have been raised regarding the planning m process and how decisions have been made.
The Feldon School Safety Concern Group are asking for clarity where there currently appears to be inconsistency and lack of transparency.
Key concerns include:
- Whether proper planning procedures have been followed in full.
- Whether all relevant objections and risks were fairly considered
- The speed and manner in which approvals have progressed
This has led to a growing perception within the community that the process may not have been handled with the level of openness and rigour expected.
We've obtained confidential internal emails between the Dacorum Borough Council, Witherslack Group, and Highways England that legally demonstrate faliures at a monumental magnitude.
To be clear, potential partents became aware of this from a simple concern raised by an invidual resident on the access route to the school site.
Witherslack Group: Background & Public Reporting
The proposed operator of the school, Witherslack Group, is an established provider of specialist education services across the UK based in Abu Dhabi. Last year, despite thousands of complaints from parents, communities £45 million profit.
Reporting, including coverage in i newspaper, has highlighted concerns and criticism relating to aspects of the organisation’s operations.
The Government has pledged to introduce a “last resort” profit cap for private providers as part of its schools bill reforms.
Many high profile figures have previosuly raised legitimate questions that communities are entitled to consider when new developments are proposed.
Therefore, we are asking:
- What due diligence has been undertaken locally in light of national reporting?
- How will standards be monitored and enforced in this specific setting?
- What is the specialisim level in leadership at the school?
- What dedicated team to Dacorum Borough Council have to monitor the school?
- What assurances can be provided to families and the wider community?
At a national level, organisations such as Witherslack Group operate within a rapidly expanding independent special education sector, one that is increasingly funded by public money. It's so very important for the UK to have SEN provision, we're just challenging whether Witherslack Group are the people.
Unsafe Crossings
Crosswalks are poorly maintained and positioned in dangerous locations, compromising child safety.
Community Engagement
Driving dialogue among parents, local residents, and officials to develop lasting safety solutions.
