Empty Nottingham academy site to be used for school expansion
A school that never opened due to lack of demand will be redeveloped into a special school. The Waterside Primary Academy was initially due to open in the new Trent Basin estate in Nottingham in September, but the Department for Education (DfE) pulled funding for the centre in January. Nottingham City Council said after discussions with the DfE about the future of the site, a plan to repurpose the building for the expansion of the existing Rosehill special school was approved.The expanded special education needs and disability (SEND) school, run by the council, could be open by September 2026, the authority said.
Neghat Khan, leader of the city council, said the scrapping of the new primary school "presented a really interesting opportunity for the council".A £10m plan to expand Rosehill was already under way and expected to be completed in 2027 but the council said it would now "reroute" £2m of that funding to redevelop the Waterside building and subsequently save £8m.
'Fabulous news'
The expansion will create an additional 60 additional school places for children aged four to 19 with special educational needs and disabilities, an education health and care plan (EHCP) and a diagnosis of autism, the authority said. Khan said the "huge demand" for SEND places was increasing. She added: "Our priority is to ensure that all children and young people have access to the education and support they need to thrive. "And while the original plans for Waterside Primary School have evolved, this initiative demonstrates our commitment to finding innovative solutions that address the evolving needs of our residents, particularly those requiring specialised support."We have been able to find a solution with minimal cost implications, that can be delivered relatively quickly and will make a significant difference in the lives of many families"Parents and carers of Rosehill School pupils were told about the development in a letter earlier in March. Rosehill School's head teacher Cheryl Steele said: "This is fabulous news for Nottingham's children and families. "It clearly demonstrates that we are a city focussed on enabling every child and young person to achieve the best possible outcomes in learning, social and emotional wellbeing to fulfil their potential and participate fully in society."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
Hope for Somerset special school after extra £1.5m of funding
Nearly £1.5m of extra council funding will be provided to prevent a new special needs school from closing after less than a View School in Somerset was funded by the Department for Education (DfE), but "significant operational difficulties", including water ingress and faulty gates, meant it was not able to welcome more students in have criticised the DfE for not putting in enough money, with one saying it was "outrageous" for the council to have to "carry the can".The DfE has been contacted for comment. The government funded the building of Hill View Special School, near Yeovil, after accepting a bid by Somerset County Council to create more SEND spaces, the Local Democracy Reporting Service free school opened in September 2024 for 60 children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and is run by the Oak Partnership Trust. But within the first month, it reported "significant operational difficulties", including substantial problems with the fabric of the included water ingress (forcing several classrooms to close), faulty gates on the car park (presenting a safeguarding issue), door fastenings which easily broke off, incorrectly installed "non-climb fences" and staff school put short-term emergency measures in place, but the disruption had caused its pupils to "become significantly dysregulated", damaging their education and wider quality of life, according to a report to the council's a series of visits, the DfE agreed to provide £684,000, allowing off-limits classrooms to be gradually the trust is still forecasting a deficit of £868,000 for the end of this academic year – and without a significant increase in pupil numbers and associated funding, it would have to "surrender" the school back to the DfE to avoid bankruptcy, it said. At a meeting on Wednesday, Somerset Council's executive agreed to allocate £1,433,000 from its dedicated schools grant (DSG) to the a statement, councillor Frances Nicholson said: "The DfE's official insisted on their design and contractor, saying they knew best – and they failed. They have put some money in to rectify their mistakes, but it's not enough."What is absolutely outrageous is that the council is being asked to carry the can for the DfE."Claire Winter, the council's executive director for children, families and education, said that not providing this funding would lead to even higher costs for the council in the years ahead. She said: "The cost of providing alternative spaces for children who could not be schooled at Hill View runs into the many millions of pounds. "Fixing this is the least these children deserve."By September they should be able to use the bulk of the building, and we are expecting 20 more children to enter the school in the autumn, with a further 20 pupils joining in February 2026."Demand for SEND education resources has vastly exceeded government funding for years, with Somerset's own Dedicated Schools Grant deficit now predicted to exceed £100m in light of this Liberal Democrat leader of Somerset Council, Bill Revans, is to write to the DfE to express the council's concerns about the school's delivery.
BBC News
29-05-2025
- BBC News
Slough Borough Council SEND assessment delays criticised in report
"Significant delays" by a council in assessing a child's special educational needs caused his mother "prolonged injustice", a government watchdog has Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman ordered the Slough Borough Council to pay her £1,000 for delays and lack of report said the council's faults had caused her "significant distress and frustration".The BBC has approached the council for comment. The mother, named as Ms X in the ombudsman's report, asked the council to update her son B's education health and care plan (EHCP) in March is a legal document reviewed annually that sets out what a council has to do to meet a child's special educational wanted the council to update B's EHCP with information from a private occupational therapist's assessment she had sourced, and asked if it could reimburse her for the X then complained "shortly after" about the time the council had taken to update B's EHCP after a review in October 2023, and asked for a personal budget to pay for his occupational therapy. 'Especially severe' The council replied that B's annual review would take place in April, that she could discuss a personal budget then, and that it might need to take 14 weeks to reassess his council also said it had "not yet decided" whether to reimburse Ms X for the private occupational therapist's assessment.B's annual review took place in April and the council wrote to Ms X in June saying it had prepared an amended plan, that it would reimburse her for the occupational therapist's assessment and reassess B's response to her complaint, Slough Borough Council said it would consider her request for a personal accepted there had been delays in updating B's plan and securing a decision around the private occupational therapist the council did issue an updated ECHP in September 2024 the reassessment had still not taken place – and was ongoing at the time of the ombudsman's decision in March this council 'said waiting for the outcome of the private OT's review, had delayed this consideration'.The ombudsman ruled this delay was "especially severe" and the the council should pay Ms X £ addition, the ombudsman said there was a "lack of communication! from the council in explaining its decision whether to award Ms X a personal budget, and that there was a delay in deciding whether to reimburse her for the private said the council should pay Ms X a further £250 for these. You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
BBC News
16-05-2025
- BBC News
Work to replace faulty Haygrove School could start in 2026
A school forced to close its main building due to its faulty construction could move to a new site by School in Bridgwater was partially shut in August 2023 due to safety concerns. Since then, lessons have taken place in temporary Department for Education (DfE) has confirmed a feasibility study to build a new school at Queenswood Farm is "on track" to be completed by the end of this MP Ashley Fox said construction is expected to begin in autumn 2026, subject to planning permission, with the aim of "welcoming students to the new school in September 2028". He added: "Despite the challenging circumstances, Haygrove School has continued to deliver strong outcomes for its students."That's a credit to the staff, leadership, and wider school community."A spokesperson for the DfE said high-quality and sustainable buildings are a key part of raising school standards. "We have increased investment to £2.1bn this financial year to improve the condition of school buildings, on top of the continuing School Rebuilding Programme," they added.
