THE writing could be on the wall for Alton's Whitedown School.

Education chiefs meet today (Friday) to consisder pursuing a proposal to sell off the Albert Road site,

Whitedown would be amalgamated with Meadow School in Bordon to create a larger, combined special school serving local children with complex learning difficulties.

Members of Hampshire County Council's education committee will be debating a recommendation to begin consultations on the suggested re-organisation.

If agreed, consultation would take place over the next few months with school staff and governors, parents and other interested parties, including other schools and nurseries in the area and local health trusts.

In the report before the committee, county education officer Andrew Seber describes the Whitedown School site as small, with extremely poor access and buildings of poor quality.

"There has been support from both schools for the idea of setting up one combined special school to serve the area, catering for pupils with complex learning difficulties," the report states.

"In practice it is accepted that this would need to be on the Bordon site, which is the larger of the two school sites. This would release the Whitedown site for sale but the hydrotherapy pool facility would need to be provided on the Bordon site."

However, education committee chairman Don Allen stressed that no plans are set in stone, and that full funding has yet to be identified.

He said: "One or two things are quite clear cut – the buildings at Whitedown School in Alton need improvement in order to provide a quality education; and the site is too restricted to make redevelopment there a feasible option.

"We also know that due to population sparsity in this part of Hampshire, there is no scope for developing separate special needs primary and secondary schools, as we are in the process of doing in Winchester and Eastleigh."

The focus of the consultation will be on a scheme to extend and improve the current Meadow School in Bordon, with up to 30 children having their needs met within specially-resourced mainstream units, the locations of which have yet to be identified.

Mr Allen said: "The approach of supporting our special needs schools with units in mainstream schools has been successful in other parts of the county.

"We will be consulting with schools in the Alton and Petersfield areas about the locations of the units, as one of the benefits is that children with moderate learning difficulties can go to a local school close to home while receiving specialist attention and expertise from the unit's staff."

He added: "We have set out a framework for how we could potentially achieve improved accommodation for children and staff working in this area, but this is a genuine consultation and we will be very open to the opinions and views of staff, parents, governors and town and district councillors so that we can develop this sensitively in a way which benefits the maximum number of people.

"We also still have a job to do to identify a full funding package for what could be a major capital investment of more than £5million."

Whitedown School can cater for up to 50 children aged between two and 19 with severe learning difficulties.

Currently up to 120 pupils aged between four and 16, with a range of special educational needs including autism, attend Meadow School in Mill Chase Road.

If the scheme goes ahead then it is anticipated that the new school would be open in September 2004.