Following a successful bid for funding from the Department For Education to provide support closer to home for families with SEND, the school is set to offer 100 places for children and young people aged from seven to 16 who have an Education, Health and Care Plan in place, with a key focus on their social, emotional and mental health needs.
The council is committed to providing all children with a good start in life and opportunities through to adulthood and were praised by Ofsted inspectors who rated its children services as ‘good’ this November. Their report concluded that the council had successfully turned previous areas of weakness into areas of strength, while recognising the work that is already underway to improve the support that children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities receive.
Children and young people with social, emotional and mental health needs currently have to be educated at independent or maintained schools outside of the borough. Plans for the new school means the council will be able to provide high quality support for these children and young people in the Royal Borough, reducing pressure on families who have children with SEND and enabling children and young people to thrive in their home community.
Cabinet Member for Children's Services and Education, Cllr Amy Tisi said: “We want every child to fulfil their potential and this is an exciting step in our work to improve the support we offer pupils.
“These plans will help us to meet the needs of those children who have some of the most complex needs in our community, improving our ability to offer placements that are nearer for families and give children the best opportunities in life.
“The hard work of our Children’s Services in partnership with Achieving for Children was praised by Ofsted as ‘Good’ this winter and I’m proud that these plans are already building on that progress to boost the support we provide.”
The council will now enter into a lease with the Department for Education (DfE) so that early work on the design of the school can start in the new year. The building of the school will then be carried out by DfE and is set to be run as an Academy by the Chiltern Way Academy Trust from 2028.
