A special school, to be located in Towcester, has been given the go-ahead from West Northamptonshire’s Planning committee. It is set to provide 250 places for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
Approved by West Northamptonshire Council’s (WNC) Strategic Planning Committee, the new special school will continue in its development to provide much-needed spaces for 250 children and young people between the ages of four to 18 with SEND. The unit will cater for children who are on the autistic spectrum (ASC) and have speech, language and communication needs (SLCN), as well as those with severe learning difficulties (SLD).
The planning application was approved subject to conditions, which include managing traffic to and from the school. This will include the routes of minibuses, which will be used to transport the majority of children to the school.
The proposals approved are for a three-storey building that is specially designed to create an environment for children to learn, grow and thrive. The school will have general and practical teaching spaces, a lift providing access to the upper floor, with each key stage being located adjacent to a calm room, intervention room and a group room. There will be two halls proposed to provide physical activities, music, drama and assembly spaces.
The Early Years phase will be co-located with need specific sensory rooms and separate dining spaces for primary and secondary pupils.
This comes as a positive step forward as the demand for SEND placements continues to increase in West Northants, with this new provision providing additional school places for many local children in a specialist environment.
Cllr Fiona Baker, Cabinet Member for Childrens, Families, Education and Skills at WNC, said: “This is great news for children and young people with SEND, and their families. We know there is a shortfall of placements in West Northants and that demand is continuing to increase, so this is very much needed.
“The planning and design of the school has been really thorough in detail and I am confident it is going to offer fantastic education and learning facilities in an environment right for the children.
“We know that this isn’t an instant solution, however it is a long-term one that will help us manage the demand we are seeing for placements as we continue on our improvement journey. The team involved will continue to work closely with all partners and stakeholders to ensure all are kept up to date and informed on progress.”
