(UK) Stockton: $2.7M for 50 place special school; $10.7M for SPED in total
Leaders have agreed to spend over £8m [$10.7M] on a new special school and expansions to a nursery and academy in Stockton.
Stockton Council aims to provide more for children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND), and hopes to gain £15.4m [$20.6M] of government money. The moves were announced with a new report on national SEND reforms as costs and demands continue to rise across the country.
Councillor Clare Besford, the council’s cabinet member for children and young people, told the cabinet on Thursday night: “I think it’s fair to say this report represents one of the most significant developments in SEND provision for many years.”
The cabinet agreed to invest £8m from capital funds:
Up to £2m [$2.7M] for a new 50-place school for children with social, emotional and mental health needs, with Spark of Genius which runs the King Edwin School. The Skills Academy in Billingham will be adapted and expanded for the project; £1.4m [$1.9M]to expand the Early Support Nursery in Thornaby, adding 10 extra spaces, bringing the total to 30, to help children with autism and speech, language, communication and complex needs;
£3.75m[$5M] to expand the Ash Trees Academy to create 40 more specialist primary spaces, building on to and adapting the Sandown Road site.
The three projects, also including a £860,000 contingency, are projected to save £1.8m [$2.4M]in the first two years, potentially rising to £2.1m [$2.8M]in future years. The council is also hoping for millions in high needs stability funding from the government.
Edwin Squire, the council’s assistant director of education, inclusion and achievement, said the council would receive £15.4m [$21M] from the government if it had a credible plan to improve services. The authority, with the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board, has sent a “local area reform plan” to the Department for Education (DfE), with a decision expected in October.
Mr Squire said if they got this money it would wipe out 90% of the council’s £17m [$23M] schools grant deficit. He told how they aimed to improve inclusion in mainstream schools, spot children’s needs and support them earlier, strengthen alternative provision and rely less on expensive independent places outside the borough: “The overall aim is that more children receive support closer to home at an earlier stage within local services where possible.”
Cllr Besford said the council had a clear vision to improve outcomes for children and families. The projects were “essential if we are to reduce reliance on those costly out-of-area places”, she added.
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