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28
Oct
Harrogate autism school opening delayed again
The long awaited ‘autism school’ in Harrogate is set to be delayed yet again.
In August, it was announced that the opening date for the Lighthouse School, located at the old Woodfield Community Primary School in Bilton, would be November 2026.
However, it now appears the school won’t open until January 2027.
The school website has a link to a document ‘October 2026 update for parents and carers’, which contains information about details such as school uniform and timetabling.
The information pack reveals that “by Wednesday 6th January 2027 the full timetable will be in place” and students will “be joining us in January”.
The document also adds that the school is offering a “transition package during November and December”.
Representatives of the Department for Education, North Yorkshire Council, and Lighthouse School Leeds outside the school site in 2024.
It is likely this will include some meetings between families and staff, individual tours and open day sessions.
Other details include the fact that 24 students are expected to start in January, by September 2027 the school is expected to have 48 students and in September 2028 the school will be at its 80-student capacity.
Recruitment is still ongoing for a number of positions, including teachers and teaching assistants, and “final touches” are being added to the building.
Beset by delays
The school has been delayed repeatedly since it was announced in 2023, with an initial target opening date of September 2024.
The projected £2 million renovation didn’t begin until late 2024 and by then the opening date had already slipped to 2025.
In August 2026 the opening date was confirmed to be November 2026 – a disappointment to many parents who had thought it would open in September for the new school year – but this has now quietly been pushed back yet again.
MP Tom Gordon has been involved in ensuring the school opens.
The school will cater for 80 pupils with autism between the ages of 11 and 19.
When the November 2026 opening announcement was made Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, expressed disappointment that “families who were expecting the school to open in September will now have to wait until November”.
We have contacted him for comment on this new update.
The Stray Ferret has also contacted the school trust, Lighthouse Education Trust, for further information and comment, as well as local councillor Paul Haslam, who has confirmed he wasn’t aware of this development.
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