Extra special needs places at mainstream schools

The council wants children with special educational needs and disabilities to get the support they need from within Rotherham

More than 100 new school places have been approved for children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) at a town's mainstream schools.

The £1.4m needed for Rotherham Council to provide them will come from £15m in government funding which was approved in 2022.

The "safety valve" grant from the Department for Education, which supports the council with previous overspending, aims to increase Send capacity at mainstream schools.

This would stop children with Send from having to leave the borough for their needs to be met, a council report states.

The report said pupils would be able to access the resources they needed while still attending mainstream classes.

As of November 2024, 22.2% of pupils in Rotherham had specialist plans or support in place, compared to the national average of 18.4%.

The council created 362 Send places between March 2021 and June 2024, but demand remains high.

The schools with new placements, along with the number and type of places, are as follows.

• Maltby Manor Academy (Primary) – Social, Emotional, and Mental Health (SEMH) – 10 places

• Thurcroft Junior Academy (Primary) – Communication and Interaction – 10 places

• Brinsworth Whitehill Primary (Primary) – Communication and Interaction – 10 places

• Foljambe Primary (Primary) – SEMH – 10 places

• Thrybergh Academy (Secondary) – SEMH – 10 places

• Wales Academy (Secondary) – Communication and Interaction – 20 places

• Brinsworth Academy (Secondary) – Moderate Learning Difficulty – 10 places

• Anston Hillcrest Primary (Primary) – Speech, Language, and Communication – 10 places

• Winterhill Academy (Secondary) – SEMH – 10 places

Other projects which have been supported by the grant include the development of Forest View, a purpose-built facility for young people aged 14-19, and the creation of a therapeutic space at Newman School so students can access therapy on site.

School places created through the new provisions will continue to grow throughout the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years, the report added.

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