New purpose-built school in Huddersfield to boost SEND places

Kirklees Council said the purpose-built school would have "superb facilities"

Forty extra places are to be created at newly built school in Huddersfield for children and young people with complex autism.

Woodley School and College will relocate to a new site as part of a "major investment" by Kirklees Council into special school provision.

The move will increase the number of places for pupils aged five to 15 from 140 to 180.

A consultation has begun on the preferred site for the school.

Currently, Woodley School and College is at a site off Dog Kennel Bank and operates from multiple buildings.

Kirklees Council said additional teaching spaces had been added over time, but any further developments were restricted due to the site.

The authority said the new school would have "superb facilities and be a suitable environment for a high level of tailored support, alongside excellent teaching for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)".

It will also reduce the need for children and young people with SEND to travel outside of Kirklees for their education, the council added.

The preferred site for the replacement school is on Fernside Avenue in Almondbury at the former home of Almondbury Community School .

The council said before it applied for planning permission it wanted to hear people's views and urged them to take part in the consultation, which runs until 17 June.