Lincolnshire County Council approves special educational needs hubs in Grantham, Sleaford, Gainsborough and Lincoln
A £7 million plan for new special educational needs provision in Lincolnshire has been approved.
Members of Lincolnshire County Council’s Children’s and Culture Scrutiny Committee voted to support proposals that include five new hubs to support children with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) who would benefit from remaining in mainstream education with tailored support.
The five Lincolnshire schools to benefit from the investment are Gonerby Hill Foot Church of England Primary School in Grantham, The Meadows Primary School in Lincoln, St George’s Church of England Primary School in Gainsborough, Caistor Church of England and Methodist Primary School, and Church Lane Primary School in Sleaford.
The £7.249 million of funding for capital works includes £6 million from the Department for Education and £1.249 million from council capital funds.
During a meeting this morning (Friday, June 20), Eileen McMorrow, programme manager for the SEND and Inclusion Team, said the plans had been developed following the “significant” rise in demand for special educational needs places in Lincolnshire.
She said: “In the time since the strategy has been approved, there has been increasing pressures on the SEND system as we’ve seen both nationally and locally, resulting in a significant increase in demand for special school places.”
“Despite the addition of 527 school places over the last four years, there remains insufficient capacity with all special schools being oversubscribed.”
The meeting heard that Lincolnshire has significantly more students with SEN than the national average.
Martin Smith, assistant director of children’s education, said that nationally 4.2% of children have an EHCP, compared to 4.9% of children in Lincolnshire.
He added that there are 111,000 schoolchildren in the county, with 8,800 holding an EHCP and 2,800 educated in specialist educational provisions.
Councillor Natalie Oliver (Reform UK), executive member for children’s services, said: “This phase of the SEND hubs is obviously an incredibly important and necessary step forward in improving the lives of children and their families in the county. There is a huge demand for more.”
She added: “There are so many children who need this extra support to organise a new programme once this phase has been delivered to increase the placements in the county for all of our families in all of our areas that require it.”
Conservative councillor Stephen Roe said it was a “fantastic opportunity” for the county.
He said: “This has given a fantastic opportunity for some of our young people to not have to travel so far to get the education they need but also to get them involved in mainstream education which is very important.
“I have friends with children who have gone through mainstream school who probably wouldn’t have normally and it has enhanced their opportunities.”
