PICTURES: Plans submitted by council to build much-needed £23 million SEND school in Northamptonshire by 2025

Plans have been submitted to build a much-needed multi-million pound SEND school for 250 students in Northamptonshire by 2025.

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has submitted long-awaited plans to build a new three-storey school at the former St. John's Centre in Tiffield, which was previously used by the council for children and family services but is currently closed and unoccupied.

According to plans, the former St. John's Centre would be demolished and the new ‘Tiffield Academy’ would be built in its place.

WNC says it is “taking action” to meet the “pressing need” for a special school catering to students on the autistic spectrum, those with speech, language, and communication needs, and severe learning difficulties.

As well as multiple classrooms across the three floors, the school would also have specialized teaching rooms such as a science laboratory, food technology, art and design, music room, and a library, according to plans.

Each floor of the building also includes essential spaces to support pupils, staff and administrative functions. These include hygiene rooms, staff rooms, and office spaces, according to plans.

The school's comprehensive facilities also include a 134-space car park, cycle parking, outdoor PE areas, and enrichment features like a sensory garden and horticulture area, according to plans.

According to planning documents, the school is set to open in September 2025, which is a one-year extension from the initially anticipated timeline.

Following interviews conducted by WNC, Greenwood Academies Trust was selected as the sponsor for the school. Greenwood Academies Trust manages 37 academies across the East Midlands and East of England, including Weston Favell Academy.

Councillor Fiona Baker, cabinet member for education on the Tory-run council, previously said the school is estimated to cost £23 million to build, “subject to final feasibility reports”.

Documents also say it has been agreed in principle to borrow up to £10 million to make up the shortfall for the cost of building the new school. The remaining cost of the build will be met through capital grant funding received by the council.

This initiative is part of WNC's 'SEND sufficiency strategy,' which plans to create more than 500 new SEND places in two phases. The first phase aims to establish up to 259 new SEND places by September 2023, with the second phase targeting a new 250-place 'all-through' special school by September 2025, according to plans.

In planning papers, WNC says the proposal will help to ensure that the council is able to “fulfil its statutory obligation of providing a sufficiency of SEND places within West Northamptonshire in future academic years; provide an increased number of SEND places and will help ensure that children with additional needs are able to access education in a provision that is best placed to meet their needs; and establish a new ‘all-through’ special school, which can be considered a benefit all West Northamptonshire’s mainstream primary and secondary schools as it will reduce the need for mainstream school settings to provide places to children with additional needs where that provision is not best placed to meet very high-level, low incidence needs”.

Click here to view the plans in their entirety.