Northamptonshire to get special needs school for 250 pupils

West Northamptonshire Council said the new school would be at Tiffield, near Towcester

Parents have welcomed a decision to build a new school for pupils with special educational needs but said it was long overdue.

West Northamptonshire Council has agreed to build a state school costing £20m at Tiffield for 250 pupils.

The authority currently spends £11m per year to send 174 children to independent schools.

The council said it previously did not have the funding to build a school.

Teresa, a parent, said she was "happy" but the council "could have looked at trying to build a new school earlier".

Teresa said her family had spent a year trying to secure a SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) place at a secondary school for her son, who has ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), Tourette's syndrome, anxiety and OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder).

"I try to do things with him, but he's got a lot of medical needs and needs somewhere that can give him the support that he needs," she said.

"I can't do it myself.

"He's not having a good time - his mental health is deteriorating and it's hard to see that as a parent."

'Very distressing'

Conservative-run West Northamptonshire Council said it hoped to have the new school open by 2024, and Tiffield, near Towcester, was chosen because land was available, it was close to the A5 and A43 so pupils could travel there more easily, and the local community was supportive.

Fiona Baker, cabinet member with responsibility for children, families and education, said: "We haven't had the funding, but we now have some funding from the Department for Education and the council is putting the rest of the money forward.

"It's very distressing for all of us; the problem has been that we just haven't had the places we can allocate children to without them having to travel hundreds of miles to other provisions."

She added that the council had identified space at five mainstream secondary schools with capacity for children with SEND.

The authority was also planning to bid for more government funding for a second new school in the district.