Special needs Refurbishments at two schools to create 54 places

REFURBISHING two schools in Bristol will create 54 new places for children with special educational needs and disabilities. The city faces a shortage of specialist places and rising demand but the two refurbishment projects will go some way to addressing the ongoing crisis.

- Alex SEABROOK Local Democracy Reporter

There will be an extra 30 spaces at Henbury Court and a further 24 places at St Anne’s Infant School. Bristol City Council is investing millions of pounds to increase the number of specialist places, but one glaring question is whether the government will pay for a new school.

The refurbishments were approved by councillors on the children and young people policy committee on Thursday, October 16. But despite the new spaces, if a new specialist school planned in Southmead doesn’t go ahead, the council could soon be “back to square one’.

Around 550 new specialist places are needed to meet rising demand. Over the past few years the council has also spent more money than it's budgeted for, particularly on special needs education, leading to a ballooning deficit. That means there is an urgent need to provide more specialist places within Bristol, instead of sending pupils to expensive private schools far away.