Buckinghamshire to get new specialist SEN school

The council put forward a successful bid to be one of sixteen locations for the new special free schools, to create significantly more specialist provision in the county for children with additional needs. Building the new school is a key part of Buckinghamshire Council’s SEND sufficiency strategy, which aims to ensure all children with identified SEND can access a high quality education that caters for their needs.

The new school will provide high quality provision for pupils with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs who require therapeutic support. The council will now work with the Department for Education to identify a sponsor for the new school and to bring the proposal forward, confirming the site and timeframes. It’s proposed that the new school will offer 152 places for children aged 7-19, offering a high-quality education with therapeutic support, offering Maths, English and Science at BTEC and GCSE level alongside other vocational subjects.

Anita Cranmer is Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Education and Children’s Services. She said:

“We are delighted to have been awarded this vital funding which will allow us to build a brand new special educational needs free school in Buckinghamshire. As is the case in many other places, we have seen a growing number of students on Education, Health and Care Plans and this will allow us to create a number of additional places for our children and families in Buckinghamshire so that they can access the education they need to thrive and flourish.

We are looking forward to working on this project with the Department for Education and the school’s future sponsors to develop a truly outstanding school for children with SEND in Buckinghamshire.

This is a crucial part of our long-term plan to deliver on our SEND sufficiency strategy to make sure the needs of all our Buckinghamshire students can be met.”