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05
Jun
No date set for Harrogate autism school opening
Education chiefs have been unable to say when a new secondary school for children with autism will open in Harrogate.
North Yorkshire Council officers say they will not know when the school, on the site of the former Woodfield Community Primary School in Bilton, will welcome its first pupils until an academy trust is found to run it.
The school was due to open last year.
Education leaders were then hopeful the first pupils could start in September this year, but parents are concerned this target could now also be missed.
One mother, who asked not to be named, said her 11-year-old son was due to attend the new school in September, but she was worried she would now have to educate him at home because he would not be able to cope with a mainstream secondary school.
She said:
It’s ridiculous that it looks like it won’t be open after all this time.
There are so many parents and children in need of this school opening as soon as possible.
There are no other schools like it in Harrogate and my son is unable to travel to Leeds, Thirsk or York to go to another school that is similar due to his sensory needs and travel fatigue.
The school, which will include state-of-the-art classrooms, a sensory room and outdoor learning spaces, will cater for 80 autistic pupils aged between 11 and 19.
The council said the school will help address a rising demand for specialist education in North Yorkshire.
North Yorkshire Council’s assistant director for inclusion, Amanda Fielding, said:
We have progressed the building works at the former Woodfield School as planned and are working with the Department for Education regarding which academy trust will be assigned to run the new special school.
Until this process is concluded, we are not in a position to announce an opening date.
Therefore, any dates being referred to are speculative.
Woodfield Community Primary School closed in 2022 after years of falling pupil numbers and an “inadequate” rating by Ofsted.
Councillors agreed a £3.5m redevelopment to turn the site into a special school the following year.
Under the plans, the existing building will be remodelled and refurbished to create modern classrooms.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has contacted the Department for Education for a comment.
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