More places to be made available at SEND school

A school in Derbyshire is to expand to offer dozens of additional places for children with complex special needs.

Brackenfield SEND School in Bracken Road, Long Eaton, says it will take over the licence of the Outlook Centre building - 300 yards (275m) away on Briar Gate.

The building, which previously operated as an adult social care day centre, was approved for closure in November.

The move will create 60 more spaces for pupils from September.

Brackenfield was picked as one of six schools in the county to share almost £5m towards places for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

The investment of £4,838,000, signed off by Derbyshire County Council last summer, is part of a wider plan to increase the number of SEND places by about 500 over five years.

The authority is in the process of implementing an improvement plan to its SEND services with Ofsted following a damning report in September last year.

Head teacher Trish Turner said: "There is massive pressure on special schools across the country, not just here in Derbyshire, for school places, and we've been really fortunate to be given a building next door.

"Brackenfield has been an expanding special school over the last nine years. We've gone from 62 students to 210 on [our] roll today.

"We're seeing complex needs children in all schools now, but because of the increasing need, many of these children require a special school place and they are just not available for them.

"We're extending all aspects of the school, so there's a big recruitment drive at the moment to make sure that we have the staff in place to meet the needs of these children across both sites."

A Derbyshire County Council spokesperson said: "The funding for this project and others like it comes from £11m we announced in May to increase the number of special school places across the county by around 500 over five years to support vulnerable learners with special and complex needs.

"We're very pleased to hear the additional places being made possible by this funding will make a positive difference for future pupils at Brackenfield SEND School."

The school said it was currently recruiting senior leaders, teachers and support staff.

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