*Surrey County Council* say they are delighted to announce the establishment of 230 new specialist school places scheduled for September 2023, designed to cater to Surrey’s children with additional needs and disabilities.
This expansion of educational opportunities has been made possible through the successful execution of 40 construction projects across various schools in Surrey. The projects encompassed the enlargement of existing specialist schools and Special Educational Needs (SEN) Units within mainstream schools, the construction of new specialist free schools, and the establishment of new SEN Units within mainstream schools.
These initiatives are integral to Surrey County Council’s extensive £260 million Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Alternative Provision Capital Programme, aimed at enhancing the long-term adequacy of state-maintained specialist educational provision in Surrey. The Council is committed to ensuring that children and young people with additional needs and disabilities (AND) who require specialist school placements can access education closer to home within state-maintained facilities whenever feasible. The introduction of these new specialist school places aligns with this commitment, offering more young people in Surrey with additional needs and disabilities the opportunity to receive education within their local communities.
Surrey County Council’s ambitious Capital Programme seeks to deliver 2,440 permanent additional specialist school places in Surrey between 2019 and 2026, ultimately creating capacity for 5,760 planned places by 2030/31.
Clare Curran, Cabinet Member for Children, Families, and Lifelong Learning, expressed her enthusiasm for the initiative, saying, “The location of these new school places means that Surrey families will have high-quality specialist school provision close to where they are, which enables children and young people with additional needs and disabilities to achieve healthy, independent, and fulfilling lives. These additional places are part of the Council’s committed investment to increase Surrey’s estate to 5,760 places overall by 2030 to improve the long-term sufficiency of state-maintained specialist educational provision that meets the needs of communities across the county now and in the future.”
In the 2023/24 academic year alone, Surrey has seen the addition of around 917 new specialist school places, representing an investment of £41 million since the program’s inception. This investment, along with carefully planned phased placements and growth strategies in collaboration with individual schools and Trusts, has increased Surrey’s state-maintained specialist education capacity from approximately 3,320 in 2019 to around 4,237 places today.
The program remains on track to complete the remaining seven projects scheduled for 2023/24 during the Spring term.
The next phase of Capital delivery in 2024/25 will encompass significant and medium-sized extensions to existing specialist schools already under contract, a new specialist free school for autistic children, and the establishment of two new secondary age SEN Units in mainstream schools for autistic children. These developments, combined with the phased introduction of additional places from previous projects, will generate approximately 240 new specialist school places for September 2024. Additional places from these projects will become available between 2025-2028, in alignment with growth plans established in collaboration with individual schools as they build their staffing capacity to support the new placements.
This expansion of educational opportunities has been made possible through the successful execution of 40 construction projects across various schools in Surrey. The projects encompassed the enlargement of existing specialist schools and Special Educational Needs (SEN) Units within mainstream schools, the construction of new specialist free schools, and the establishment of new SEN Units within mainstream schools.
These initiatives are integral to Surrey County Council’s extensive £260 million Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Alternative Provision Capital Programme, aimed at enhancing the long-term adequacy of state-maintained specialist educational provision in Surrey. The Council is committed to ensuring that children and young people with additional needs and disabilities (AND) who require specialist school placements can access education closer to home within state-maintained facilities whenever feasible. The introduction of these new specialist school places aligns with this commitment, offering more young people in Surrey with additional needs and disabilities the opportunity to receive education within their local communities.
Surrey County Council’s ambitious Capital Programme seeks to deliver 2,440 permanent additional specialist school places in Surrey between 2019 and 2026, ultimately creating capacity for 5,760 planned places by 2030/31.
Clare Curran, Cabinet Member for Children, Families, and Lifelong Learning, expressed her enthusiasm for the initiative, saying, “The location of these new school places means that Surrey families will have high-quality specialist school provision close to where they are, which enables children and young people with additional needs and disabilities to achieve healthy, independent, and fulfilling lives. These additional places are part of the Council’s committed investment to increase Surrey’s estate to 5,760 places overall by 2030 to improve the long-term sufficiency of state-maintained specialist educational provision that meets the needs of communities across the county now and in the future.”
In the 2023/24 academic year alone, Surrey has seen the addition of around 917 new specialist school places, representing an investment of £41 million since the program’s inception. This investment, along with carefully planned phased placements and growth strategies in collaboration with individual schools and Trusts, has increased Surrey’s state-maintained specialist education capacity from approximately 3,320 in 2019 to around 4,237 places today.
The program remains on track to complete the remaining seven projects scheduled for 2023/24 during the Spring term.
The next phase of Capital delivery in 2024/25 will encompass significant and medium-sized extensions to existing specialist schools already under contract, a new specialist free school for autistic children, and the establishment of two new secondary age SEN Units in mainstream schools for autistic children. These developments, combined with the phased introduction of additional places from previous projects, will generate approximately 240 new specialist school places for September 2024. Additional places from these projects will become available between 2025-2028, in alignment with growth plans established in collaboration with individual schools as they build their staffing capacity to support the new placements.
