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26
Aug 2024
Consultation to expand Starbeck special needs school set for approval
A consultation to expand a special needs school in Starbeck looks set to be approved.
Springwater School, which is based off the High Street, currently offers 112 places for children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND).
The North Yorkshire Council-run school supports children aged two to 19 who have autism, learning and speech difficulties, and language and communication needs.
But the council’s executive is set consider a consultation to expand the school at a meeting on Tuesday, September 3. The proposal has been recommended for approval in a council report.
It would see the number of places increase by 45 – taking it to 157 places on offer from September 2025.
The council’s executive member for education, learning and skills, cllr Annabel Wilkinson, said the number of children identified with SEND is rapidly increasing:
Locally and nationally, the number of children being identified with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is rapidly increasing. In North Yorkshire, there has been an increase in the number of children with education health and care plans (EHCPs) of 95% since 2018.
Whilst the majority of children with EHCPs have their needs met in their local mainstream school, there are others who require a more specialist setting. The council, in recent years, has increased special school places from 820 in 2018 to 1,450 in 2024.
Despite the significant funding challenges in the SEND system, the council has prioritised investment in providing more special school places throughout the county by developing our SEND Capital Investment Programme.
The proposal to expand Springwater School is one of a number of significant investments we have planned to further improve the facilities and school places available for children with SEND.
The council today said the move would be funded by “significant” capital investment, which would see two council-owned buildings next to Springwater School redeveloped.
Dedicated classrooms, new changing facilities, an outdoor space with an area for sixth-form pupils, a kitchen and a sensory room would all be created should the expansion be approved.
The authority also believes the plans would not only provide additional spaces for those that needs them, but also significantly improve the facilities available to existing and future pupils at the school.
According to the report due before councillors, the building work would begin in January 2025 if plans are approved.
The report adds the expansion would achieve "longer term savings" by reducing the "current demand and high cost of placing children out of North Yorkshire settings".
Cllr Wilkinson added:
Providing more places within the county will mean more children will access the education they need within their own community, alongside their peers, close to their family and friends and reduce the need for placements outside the area.
If approved, the proposal would be subject to a five-week consultation, which is set to begin on Friday, September 6.
SEND expansion
The Stray Ferret first reported on the proposed move by the former North Yorkshire County Council in February last year.
The authority’s executive considered a plan to create an additional 45 spaces, which it said would provide “more local, quality in-house special school places” within the county.
At the time, the council intended to spend £3.1 million of its High Needs Provision Capital Allocation to fund the expansion, which is granted by the government.
A cost for the latest proposal has not been revealed.
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