Nottingham is set to bolster school capacity for children with additional needs as the city sees an increasing number of pupils requiring support.
The region is experiencing ‘considerable growth’ in the number of young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), with almost all spaces for children with additional needs already full, Nottingham City Council said.
The first phase of the authority’s SEND Sufficiency Strategy 2023-28 proposes increasing or creating SEND provision at six schools, creating up to 128 extra places.
The council aims for more children to be able to access SEND provision closer to home.
It is anticipated that the ‘very earliest’ any new provision could be agreed, built and ready to open is September 2024, except for one previously approved provision.
The council was allocated almost £18m of higher needs capital funding from the Department for Education for the period 2021-24.
Nottingham’s children and young people scrutiny committee will consider the strategy on Thursday.
