Lancaster and Morecambe schools set to expand under special needs plans

Two existing local authority special schools – The Loyne Specialist School, in Lancaster, and Bleasdale School, in Carnforth – will be expanded.

Thirty new places will be generated at The Loyne, which caters for 4-19-year-olds with severe or profound learning difficulties and, in some cases, additional medical needs, sensory impairments and autism. A further 30 pupils will also be admitted to Bleasdale School, which accommodates young people aged 2-19 years who have a wide range of needs, including autism spectrum disorder.

Meanwhile, two mainstream schools in Morecambe will see SEND units established or expanded within their existing facilities. At Grosvenor Park Primary, eight new places will be created for children with social communication and interaction needs – and Morecambe Bay Community Primary will see improvements made to a unit opened last September, creating eight extra places.

The schemes are part of an £11.6m project that will see more than 250 SEND places across Lancashire under the latest phase of a county council strategy to ensure more youngsters with special needs are educated closer to where they live - and to reduce spiralling bills for home-to-school transport, as well as the cost of placing children in privately-run special schools.

A cabinet meeting at which the proposals were agreed heard the average private special school place came with a price tag of £65,000 per year, whereas the county council’s own SEND provision typically cost less than sixth of that - at £10,000.

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Conservative cabinet member for education and skills Jane Rear said she was pleased public consultations into the plans had returned generally “positive” results - and that more children can be educated "nearer to their homes and familiar communities".

Where objections had been raised to the plans, concerns often revolved around the claimed potential for enlargements of the special schools having a negative impact on current pupils.

However, Labour opposition group leader Matthew Tomlinson said he welcomed the moves - particularly the new SEND units.

“We have been driving some of these children twice a day to be educated a long way from home, which is not good for anyone - let alone a child for whom school may be more difficult,” County Cllr Tomlinson said.

The SEND facilities to be developed within mainstream schools will make use of vacant spaces or create brand new accommodation. A report presented to the cabinet said any changes would be “sympathetic to each school setting”, with work carried out in a way that minimised disruption.