More than £900,000 is being invested to create more capacity at special schools in Plymouth.
This is part of Plymouth City Council’s £13 million SEND sufficiency plan, which aims to improve support for children and young people with special needs and/or disabilities (SEND) by increasing the availability of special school places.
The Council will spend £728,392 to carry out reconfiguration works at Woodlands Special School, transforming an unused space to facilitate a 10-place assessment nursery provision and creating extra school places.
The nursery provision will provide year-long placements for pre-school aged children who are waiting to be assessed for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). It will be staffed by a teacher and Education, Health and Care assistants, who will monitor children to see whether they need a specialist or mainstream school place. Children will then be supported to transition directly from the nursery into their new school placement.
A further £192,000 will also be used to increase capacity at Longcause Special School, by converting four offices into additional classroom spaces to better meet the needs of pupils at the school.
Woodlands Special School supports pupils aged between two and 19-years-old who have complex physical and sensory difficulties, with many also having medical needs.
Longcause Special School provides places to children aged four to 16-years-old who are on the autism spectrum and have other learning difficulties.
Councillor Sally Cresswell, Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Apprenticeships, said: “One of the biggest challenges we face when it comes to improving our SEND services is the lack of special school places available for children who really need extra support to learn and thrive.
“We are committed to maximising the limited resources available to us to create more specialist provision. I’m delighted that we’re able to work with Longcause and Woodlands to reconfigure their respective school buildings to turn underutilised space into useful learning environments for children and young people with SEND.
“Thank you to our special school headteachers for working so constructively with us to help find creative solutions to what are very complex problems.”
All of the new places for the next school year have already been allocated to children who have been waiting for a specialist place.
The majority of the building work is due to take place during the summer holidays to avoid disrupting pupils and staff.
While most children’s needs can be met in a mainstream setting, for some a specialist setting is more appropriate. To be eligible for a special school place, children must have an EHCP or be undergoing a statutory assessment of their special educational needs and have needs that cannot be met in a mainstream school.
The Council and local schools have recently launched a new website outlining the Plymouth Graduated Approach to Inclusion. This helps schools and parents and carers by setting out the support available for children and young people with SEND to ensure that their needs are meet. Find out more at https://plymouthgati.co.uk.