Feb 15, 2024, Hertfordshire.gov: New specialist resource provision supports students with SEND https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/about-the-council/news/news-archive/bushey-meads-srp
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A new facility to support students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), at Bushey Meads secondary school, was officially opened by Hertfordshire Council Council’s Director of Inclusion and Skills, Hero Slinn, on Tuesday 13 February at an event attended by the High Sheriff of Hertfordshire and the Mayor of Hertsmere.
Bushey Meads School’s new Specialist Resource Provision (SRP), the Laurel, provides pupils with additional needs support to access a mainstream school curriculum.
The new £1.4 million [$1.8M] facility for students with speech, language, communication needs and autism is one of seven new specialist resource provisions already open in Hertfordshire, creating more than 100 new places for pupils with special educational needs in the county’s schools.
This multi-million-pound investment in the development of new SRPs is helping Hertfordshire County Council address a current gap in the county’s SEND service and meet increased need in Hertfordshire for SEND support. . . .
The SRP at Bushey Meads School is already being used; it has the capacity to support up to 20 pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, providing them with specialist teaching and support, a safe, nurturing environment with lots of visual learning support and language adaptations, and opportunities for learning in small groups.
I’m excited to be visiting our new specialist resource provision here at Bushey Meads School. It’s going to be a huge asset to the children of Bushey and the wider area and I’m really pleased it’s open. This innovative project is part of our ambitious £91m [$115M] investment across the county to create more than 1,000 special school places for our children in Hertfordshire.
We’re committed to providing the right education in the right place at the right time, and we know there is a need to create more provision in Hertfordshire so that our children and young people with SEND can attend the most appropriate education setting, and achieve the best possible outcomes, as close to their home and community as possible.
- Councillor Caroline Clapper, Executive Member for Education at Hertfordshire County Council, who visited the SRP in advance of the formal opening event
We were delighted to welcome Hero Slinn to officially open our brand new Specialist Resource Provision within the Bushey St James Trust. The new £1.4 million specialist resource provision is now fully functioning, benefitting the SRP students and the wider school community. It is also available to staff and students across our Multi Academy Trust and will become a centre of excellence for staff in schools across the local area. We have been delighted to build on our successful partnership working with Hertfordshire County Council in this major refurbishment project and congratulate all the staff involved in designing the state of the art building. Staff and students comment that it is an extremely calm and inspiring environment which we know will serve our immediate school community, our Multi Academy Trust and also the wider community for many years to come.
- Jeremy Turner, CEO of the BSJT & Executive Principal of Bushey Meads School
It was an absolute privilege and a pleasure to be asked to open this really important provision at Bushey Meads School. This was a moment to step back and appreciate what can be achieved with persistence, commitment and vision, as we continue on our journey of improvement with our SEND and inclusive provision. The facilities were amazing; I was particularly struck by the creative use of space, the use of 'low arousal' colours on the walls and the flexibility of the classrooms, including the use of small tables that could easily be moved for individual, group or whole class learning as suited the child's needs / level of emotional arousal at the time. A huge thank you to Jeremy Turner and his leadership team at Bushey Meads for inviting me to open the provision and a particular thanks to the school’s team and our teams at Hertfordshire County Council for driving this vision forward and providing such an important place for our children and young people to thrive.
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