Surrey County Council has created 220 new specialist school places in Surrey’s special schools and specialist centres in mainstream primary and secondary schools, and an additional 70 temporary places, as part of ambition for children and young people to live, learn and grow up locally.
In readiness for the new academic year 2021-2022, a total of 290 new specialist places have been delivered in line with approved projects in Surrey’s SEND Capital Programme. The programme is funded through a combined Capital investment of £79.6m which will create 1,500 new specialist school places within Surrey’s maintained specialist estate by 2030.
This is a substantial increase from the 74 new places delivered in 2020/21 and will enable better long-term outcomes for children and young people with SEND. They will be educated closer to home and be more connected to local communities and support services.
Denise Turner Stewart, Cabinet Member for Education and Learning, said: “This increase in specialist school places in Surrey is crucial in ensuring all children and young people have access to high quality local specialist provision. I am delighted that children and young people are getting support which will enable them to receive the education that they deserve. We are making continued progress with our aim to create 1,500 new specialist places by 2030 and we will see approximately 300 more of these places become available in the next academic year.”
The delivery of the SEND Capital programme is part of Surrey County Council’s SEND Transformation Programme, which is focused on delivering improved outcomes for children and young people with SEND by working collaboratively across education, health agencies and social care.
If you are worried about a child not reaching their learning or development milestones, there is a single point of access helpline. The Learners’ Single Point of Access (L-SPA) is open from 8am to 5pm, Monday and Friday all year (0300 200 1015). The L-SPA gives you direct access to information and advice from a multi-disciplinary team of professionals from education, health and social care.
