Following consultation with families, schools and professionals, Milton Keynes Council has developed plans to expand the number of local school places and support available for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
An eight-week consultation ran from February this year, receiving around 200 responses. Now, proposals are being considered to construct a new specialist teaching unit at St Paul’s Catholic School, plus to expand secondary provision for pupils with SEND at Shenley Road in Bletchley. These two projects would boost the number of specialist school places in MK by up to 48.
Further proposals include the development of 210 new school places for children with Complex Needs and Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) and working with an existing MK Special School to provide ‘satellite provision’ for up to 28 pupils. This would mean pupils could stay in Milton Keynes’s Specialist Provision whilst having access to extra support in a smaller environment.
A decision to confirm the SEND proposals is set for 19 July.
The latest proposals follow a decision taken last month to expand Stephenson Academy, an existing special school in Stantonbury with four new classrooms plus intervention and therapy spaces to help 32 pupils.