Pupils with special education needs to move to different Northampton school after specialist unit delayed

Children with special educational needs who were set to move to a new £1.1 million unit in Northampton in September will instead move to another school due to delays.

The unit at Hunsbury Park Primary School in Northampton was due to accommodate up to 50 children.

The first phase of the project for 20 children in Reception and Years 1 and 2 opened at the school last November.

But West Northamptonshire Council said that “construction constraints” mean another unit for children in Years 3 to 6 will not go ahead there as originally planned.

Those children will instead be based in refurbished rooms at Chiltern Primary School, also in Northampton, from October.

Senior staff at Hunsbury Park are expected to run that new unit, about three miles away. The revised project is set to cost £2 million.

Tiff Cotterill, a mother affected by the changes, said they were “totally devastating” to some children.

She told a council meeting last Thursday: “I can promise you that myself and the other 23 families affected by this do not feel it’s a positive thing. We still don’t understand why or how this has happened.”

West Northamptonshire Council held meetings with affected families on Monday and Tuesday.

Labour councillor Emma Roberts told the council that parents were only made aware of the problems the day after she asked questions about the project’s progress last month.

She said she had asked questions about it but had heard nothing back.

She said: “Who was project managing it, where is the accountability and where are the plans allocated to it in the first place? I have asked these questions in writing on three occasions and received no responses.”

Cllr Roberts added: “We need to accept that this has had an impact on our vulnerable children. They are at a disadvantage. I’ve seen responses saying no children will be disadvantaged but actually it’s commonly accepted that a change of setting…will have an impact on children even without additional needs.”

A consultation on the plans opened last month and will close on July 19.

The new unit at Chiltern Primary cannot legally open until West Northamptonshire Council has officially approved it, which is expected to happen in September.

The council said the move to Chiltern Primary will mean an eventual total of 45 spaces can be created for children in Years 3 to 6 there by September 2024.

It said the move also means that another 10 places can be created for younger pupils at Hunsbury Park, bringing the total at that site to 30.

Councillor Fiona Baker, the council’s cabinet member for children, families and education, said: “I think that we found very late in the day that Hunsbury Park was not going to be completed.”

She added: “Out of what could have been a disaster, we have got a positive result. We will have places for those children.”

A West Northamptonshire Council spokesperson said difficulties sourcing materials and builders had delayed the project.

They added: “To avoid the negative impacts this would have had on children and families, West Northamptonshire Council and Hunsbury Park School took the joint decision to identify an alternative option for running the specialist provision.

“Chiltern Primary was identified as the best option for this, due to the close location to Hunsbury Park and existing accommodation on site, which can be utilised effectively at an earlier opportunity, while providing the right environment for children with [special educational needs].”

The council said is seeking to provide up to 600 new special needs places across its area by September 2025.