Rochdale Borough Council has approved £3.2m in funding to create new school places for children and young people with special educational needs across the borough.
The investment will support a series of projects aimed at increasing local provision and enabling more children to access education closer to home through the council’s Dedicated Schools Grant.
Plans include a new special educational needs learning space at Norden Primary Academy, delivered in partnership with The Harmony Trust, which will provide places for up to 22 primary age pupils.
Additional secondary school places will also be created in partnership with Redwood Special School, with 20 new places planned alongside further support for sixth form provision at the Phoenix Centre.
The projects build on recent developments at Deeplish Primary Academy, where a purpose built extension now supports 24 children with speech, language and communication needs.
The council said expanding local provision is expected to reduce reliance on out of borough placements within the independent and private sector, with potential savings of around £7.8m in the coming years.
Councillor Rachel Massey, cabinet member for children’s services and education, said “This investment and the establishment of these new local specialist hubs highlights our ongoing commitment to the futures of our children and young people and the steps we are taking to become even more inclusive as a borough.
“We want to thank our partners for their support in helping us to expand our provision and in helping to ensure children with additional needs can access the right support closer to home in their local community, surrounded by their families and friends.”
Paul Evans, headteacher of Redwood Special School, said “We are proud of our kind and highly inclusive approach to specialist education and we welcome the opportunity to further expand, supporting more young people and their families across the borough.”
Antony Hughes, chief executive of The Harmony Trust, said “We are excited to be working in such strong partnership with Rochdale Borough Council on our new Inclusion Hub at Norden Academy.
“The hub will mean that more children who need specialist support for their speech, language, and communication needs can access their local school and enjoy all the benefits of being with their peers”.
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