Extension at SEN college to increase pupil numbers

North East Lincolnshire Council has approved plans for an extension at the sixth form

A sixth form college for special educational needs (SEN) pupils has had approval to build an extension which would nearly double its capacity.

Cambridge Park Academy in Cromwell Road, Grimsby will see an increase from 12 staff and 16 pupils to 24 staff and up to 28 pupils.

The council-owned building will also have solar panels installed on the roof and air source heat pumps are also planned.

The expansion is part of North East Lincolnshire Council's (NELC) sufficiency strategy for special educational needs and alternative provision, agreed by its cabinet in March.

Along with the single-storey building extension, the sixth form will also have 12 car park spaces, including EV chargers, a drop-off zone on site, and a separate entrance off the road.

Due to a lack of enough suitable facilities locally, some SEN pupils are going to other local authority areas for their education, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

This includes North Lincolnshire, West Lindsey and East Riding.

Citing Department for Education data, a planning document in the NELC application stated that the number of children with educational health and care plans in the borough has increased from 536 in January 2015, to 1,406 in January 2023.

Of those, it went on to state "a third have a primary identified need of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD)."

NELC state in the application that permission was granted for the extension on 17 June 2024.