£4m earmarked to increase places at three Hertfordshire SEND schools
Officials have drawn up proposals that could increase places at Woodfield School, in Hemel Hempstead, Woolgrove School, in Letchworth Garden City and Southfields School, in Hatfield
More than £4m has been earmarked for proposals to expand three schools for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in Hertfordshire.
The need for special school places has risen sharply in recent years. And with many of the county’s special schools full, demand is expected to continue to exceed supply.
Now officials have drawn up proposals that could increase places at Woodfield School, in Hemel Hempstead, Woolgrove School, in Letchworth Garden City and Southfields School, in Hatfield.
And documents published by the county council show that £4.242m capital funding has been allocated to the proposals, which, if given the go-ahead, could create an additional 64 places across the three schools.
According to the document, Woodfield School is an ‘all-through’ community special school for children aged three to 19 with severe learning difficulties (SLD).
And the proposal could create an additional eight places through the installation of a modular building. It would increase the school’s capacity from 125 to 133 pupils.
Woolgrove School is a special academy for pupils aged between four and 11 with learning difficulties.
And this proposal could create an additional 30 places, increasing capacity from 126 to 156 pupils.
Meanwhile, Southfield School currently offers places for 100 children, aged between four and 11, with learning difficulties.
And as part of the proposal, the installation of a new ‘modular building’ on the site could increase the capacity by 26 places, to 126.
Before implementation, each proposal would be subject to public consultation and could require the approval of the council’s cabinet or the Department for Education.
Following the publication of the document, a spokesperson for Hertfordshire County Council highlighted the 500 additional special school places that have already been created in the county in the past two years.
And they pointed to the council’s ongoing need to “keep thinking creatively”, in order to meet the increasing need for specialist school places.
“These special school expansions are part of the county council’s strategy to increase SEND provision in Hertfordshire to meet increasing need through a variety of schemes,” said a spokesperson for the county council.
“This includes large-scale building projects, the creation of satellite provision of existing special schools, and the development of specialist resource provisions and SEND units attached to mainstream schools.
“There is a need to create more provision in Hertfordshire, and we’ve been working innovatively to create more places in the short term; all of our special schools have expanded to create more places, while also investing in large-scale building projects to create entirely new special schools.
“In the last two years, we have created over 500 special school places.
“We know that we will need to keep thinking creatively about how we can continue to meet the increasing need for specialist places, working with all of our schools and colleges to enhance the support available for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.”