Council to spend £60m expanding SEND provision in Cambridgeshire

Samuel Pepys Special School in St Neots will get 63 additional spaces by September 2024

A local authority is to pump more than £60m into enhancing provision for children with special needs (SEND).

The money will go towards expanding SEND services at five schools across Cambridgeshire, and creating almost 500 school places.

Two new special schools will also be built within the next two years - at Alconbury Weald and Gamlingay.

Liberal Democrat council leader Lucy Nethsingha said there was a "real need" in the county.

The five-year proposals were approved by the council's Children and Young People's Committee.

Among the plans are 63 additional places at Samuel Pepys Special School in St Neots by September 2024, an extra 30 places in Wisbech by September 2023, and the expansion of Granta Special School in Linton, near Cambridge, by 20 places.

A new 150-place special school has been scheduled for January 2024 for Alconbury Weald, near Huntingdon.

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In Gamlingay, near St Neots, a new special school is also being considered for 100 to 120 children, including a 10 to 20 space unit for girls, the only one in the county.

A new 130-place special school - the Martin Bacon Academy - is already open as part of the new Northstowe development near Cambridge.

Meadowgate Academy Special School in Wisbech will also offer 60 more places.

Work has also begun to identify a site for another new school in the Fenland village of March, which the council said was "the area with the greatest level of need".

Six other mainstream schools will offer Enhanced Resource Bases (ERBs) to support children with special needs.

Transport services will also be reviewed over the next three months, the council said.

Kate Moore said her three children loved Samuel Pepys School where the teaching and facilities were "amazing"

Joanne Hardwick, head teacher at Samuel Pepys School, said the investment would see admissions increase from 102 to 165 places by September 2024.

"The children and young people who come to Samuel Pepys School all have moderate, severe or complex learning disabilities, so it is really important they have their needs met in the most appropriate school placement," she said.

Kate Moore, who has three children with autism at the school, said she moved to the area from London to access the specialist care.

"My children would not have been able to cope in a mainstream school," she said.

"For us, it was very important to send our children to a specialist school where we knew the teachers and the teaching assistants were fully trained.

"As parents we don't have to worry - we know they are safe and they are loved."

Members of the public will be able to see the plans for the school at a consultation in the coming days.

Head teacher Joanne Hardwick said the school was "excited about its future plans"

Ms Nethsingha said: "There's been a real need for much better early help for children and families, making sure they get the support they need in mainstream schools.

"Changes in the education system and squeezes on local authority funding have created a perfect storm in not being able to provide that help.

"The more we can provide for children within Cambridgeshire, and our own school system, will also save the council money in the long term."