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28
Dec 2024
Harrogate school expansion to be given final approval
A plan to expand a Harrogate special educational needs school looks set to be given final approval.
A report due before Cllr Annabel Wilkinson, executive member for education, learning and skills at North Yorkshire Council, in January will recommend expanding places at Springwater School from 112 to 157.
The increase would come into effect on September 1, 2025.
Sue Turley, of the council’s strategic planning team who wrote the report, said the move would help to tackle the pressures on special educational needs places caused by a hike in Education, Health and Care Plans.
She said:
The proposed expansion of Springwater School will help manage some of the school place pressures generated by the increase in the number of children with Education Health and Care Plans funded by the Local Authority.
It will also provide wider benefits in educating children closer to their local communities and reducing travel time and costs.
Springwater School, on Starbeck High Street, can cater for 112 children during the current 2023/24 academic year.
The students aged two to 19, have a range of needs including autism, profound and multiple learning difficulties and speech, language and communication difficulties.
The move to increase places comes as the council has seen a hike in Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) — legal documents that set out the tailored support a child needs — from from 2,606 to 5,100 since 2018.
As part of the expansion plan, two buildings next to the school will be redeveloped to provide dedicated classrooms and there will also be new outdoor space including an area for sixth-form pupils and a kitchen.
Cllr Wilkinson will be recommended to give final approval to the plan at a meeting on January 7, 2025.
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