Primary school near Peterborough to tackle SEND demand with new unit
Demand for SEND places in the city's set to reach 750 by 2029-30
A new specialist unit for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is set to launch at a school near Peterborough.
Wittering Primary School will offer targeted support for up to 40 pupils with social, emotional, and mental health needs from September 2027.
Charlotte Blake, the school's headteacher, has said the unit will take a therapeutic approach to help children manage their behaviours and get the education they deserve.
"It will mean that we are then able to support children with those needs via a therapeutic approach to support their behaviours and manage their behaviours, and also learn and get that education there as well," she said.
'Enhanced training' for staff
Enhanced training, supervision and ongoing support will be provided to ensure that all staff are equipped with the skills and expertise to deliver aspirational outcomes for children with SEND.
Collaboration with local special schools is also planned to further enrich the experience and capability of the team at the school.
Charlotte explained that the school has carried out extensive visits to other provisions to prepare.
"We've been on a lot of visits around lots and lots of different provisions, which have been really informative, and we know that we're going to have that help behind us," she said.
"That will give us that background information and gives us time to put in place some really good training before any of the children start."
Falling pupil numbers
The school was originally built as a three-form entry primary school, meaning it was designed to take three classes in every year group.
But the number of pupils attending has fallen significantly since then, so much so that it is currently consulting on reducing its size to 1.5 forms of entry.
This will leave part of the building – the west wing – surplus to mainstream teaching requirements.
While demand for specialist primary SEND places in the Peterborough area is expected to reach 750 places by 2029/30, compared with an existing capacity of 491 places.
But despite this, Charlotte is confident the new unit will make a difference.
"We know that we've got a lot of children that require a more specialist provision, and I think taking this step forward, it is a really exciting prospect because I know that a lot of children are in need of more specialist provisions now," she added.
"We have recognised their needs a lot more now, and we understand that perhaps children need different ways of approaching their learning and their journey through education, and this just will support that and hopefully give a more bespoke environment to children that need that."
This approach is in alignment with the Government’s recent White Paper Reforms, setting out the expectation that children with SEND should be able to attend their local school and have their needs met by trained staff.