Two borough schools part of six to share £5m DCC funding to create more special needs places

Two Long Eaton schools are to receive a share of almost £5 million as part of a wider investment by Derbyshire County Council to provide additional places for children and young people with special and complex needs across the county.

The report follows £9.7 million – a total now increased to £11 million – announced by the council in May to increase the number of school places for children with special needs by around 500 as part of a five-year plan to support vulnerable learners.

As part of that plan, the council’s Cabinet approved a recommendation to approve £4,838,000 from its special educational needs and or disabilities (SEND) capital budget at a meeting held on 10th July to fund the following Erewash projects:

• Brackenfield SEND School, Long Eaton: To provide suitable additional classroom spaces for 15 children with special needs from September 2024.
• Stanton Vale School: To create a newly refurbished wing creating 22 additional places for special needs children by September 2024, increasing to 35 places by September 2025.

Four other Derbyshire schools are also sharing the £5m allocation.

Derbyshire County Council Cabinet Member for Education Councillor Alex Dale said: “This is just the first round of allocations from our £11 million fund to increase the number of school places for vulnerable young learners with special and complex needs by around 500 as part of our five-year plan.

“Now it’s been approved by Cabinet we’ll immediately start spending this initial £5m to create new school places and improve existing provision for children and young people with SEND - particularly those with more complex needs - and for pupils who require alternative provision which will make a significant impact on their early learning.

“Meanwhile, we’re continuing to work closely with mainstream schools to ensure we allocate the remaining funding as soon as we can while also ensuring it’s spent as effectively as possible.

“This is money that can only be spent once so it needs to be based on detailed work to ensure we provide the right sort of places in the right areas to meet the different demands we face.

“This is not easy in a county with a geography like ours and does take time but we’re making good progress and we now have a strong and active education partnership covering the whole county where all schools and academies have been divided up into area-based groups and are working constructively together.

“This means we’re better able to map existing provision and identify where there is a need for expansion and schools will be able to work together to share the benefit of any new investment in their group area.

“We’re committed to giving every Derbyshire child the best possible start in life whatever their challenge or ability and our work to create more special school places where they’re needed across the county forms an important part of that pledge."

The council’s £11 million investment in special school places is part of a wider three-strand project which also includes creating additional places to promote inclusion for children with special needs in mainstream schools, by investing in Enhanced Resource Schools (ERS), SEND units and alternative provision, which is education provided outside a school setting arranged by the county council or by schools themselves.

By working with maintained and academy special schools to expand places across the county, rather than seeking to build one or two new special schools in specific areas, it is hoped the new places will be better geographically spread and be accessible to as many Derbyshire families with high needs children as possible.

To ensure the SEND funding is used effectively, Derbyshire County Council has taken a partnership approach with schools to review and improve services, widen partner involvement, provide additional staff training and improve communication.

Read the Cabinet report here.