The expansion of a special school in Worthing has been approved by West Sussex County Council.
Plans to open a satellite site for Oak Grove College, in The Boulevard, Durrington, have been in the pipeline for a couple of years, with the aim of adding 60 places to the 278 already available.
The expansion into The Pines, in Faraday Close, Durrington, was approved on Tuesday, July 7, by Claire Hayes, the council’s service director for education and skills.
The Pines is a former centre for adults with learning disabilities, which was declared surplus to requirements in 2022. In 2024, the council approved the use of just over £1million to remodel the building.
Once planning permission is received and a contractor selected, it will be revamped to provide classrooms, group rooms, a calming room, a sensory room, toilet facilities, space for dining and PE, and an outdoor play area.
If all goes as planned The Pines will open in September, 2028.
Despite an expansion in 2022, Oak Grove College has seen an increased demand for places for secondary school children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).
It’s a similar picture across the county. A report to Ms Hayes said there had been ‘significant growth’ in the number of children with Education Health & Care Plans – with 11,000 maintained by the council.
The report added: “The increase in West Sussex is above that seen nationally and in other local authorities across the south-east region.
“In response there has been a corresponding increase in demand for specialist school provision and the approved pupil place numbers of all the council’s maintained special schools have been exceeded.
“This has led to children and young people with SEND moving from maintained schools and academies into more expensive education provision in the Independent and Non-Maintained Special School sector, sometimes at schools situated in other counties.”
With the demand for places rising more quickly than the council can match, the report added: “Therefore, there is a need to increase maintained provision for children and young people with SEND through the creation of additional places in the county council’s special schools to assist the aim of enabling children to attend school locally.”
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