New specialist school for autistic pupils to be discussed by Wakefield Cabinet

Senior councillors are expected to approve plans to permanently lower the age for pupils at High Well School to allow more to benefit from a specialist education.

The plan is for the Rookhill Road school, which supports pupils with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs, to admit pupils from eight-years-old from September 2023.

This would allow more pupils to be educated within the district. The expansion would also see the school welcome ten more pupils, up to 95 places from 85.

Coun Margaret Isherwood, Wakefield Council’s Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: “The demand for Education Health and Care plans, which outline how we are going to educate pupils with specialist needs, is slightly above the national average in the Wakefield district and our focus is on taking action that will see more provision within the district.

“This investment will give more of our children and young people access to a quality education, closer to their home. It will set our pupils up for a bright future.”

Funding for High Well’s expansion would come from the Department for Education, which allocated nearly £4 million to Wakefield to support the development of more provision for SEND pupils.

A decision will be made at the next Cabinet meeting at 10.30am on Tuesday, September 13.

At this meeting, cabinet members will also be asked to back a proposal to apply for funding from the Department for Education which, if successful, would see a new school dedicated to teaching pupils with autism being built in the district.

The Department for Education (DfE) is inviting local authorities to apply for funding to build a Special Free School in their area. Not all applications will be successful as demand nationally is expected to be high.

Wakefield Council wants to open a school that would provide 80 new school places for autistic pupils, aged five to 16.

The deadline for applying to the DfE for consideration is October 2022. Successful local authorities will be announced from late 2022 to early 2023, these will move forward to the next step in the process.

The cabinet meeting can be watched live or later on the council’s website.