TAMESIDE is set to see a major expansion in specialist education this year.
More than £5.3 million will be spent to create new places for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) by September.
In total, 118 new SEND places will be created across the borough.
The funding, received from the government, will support the creation of three new Specialist Resource Provisions (SRPs) within mainstream schools, as well as a significant expansion of Cromwell High School through a new satellite site.
The investment will support pupils in primary, secondary and post‑16 education, and is designed to ensure more children can be educated close to home in settings capable of meeting their individual needs.
Laurus Ryecroft in Droylsden is set to receive the biggest share, with 42 new places planned. A new, fully accessible building designed to modern specialist standards will help the school continue to provide secondary and sixth-form education for SEND learners.
Ashton West End Primary Academy will add 20 new places by adapting existing space and adding an extra classroom, while St Stephen’s RC Primary School in Droylsden will provide 16 additional places. St Stephen’s already supports a large number of children with additional needs.
Cromwell High School in Dukinfield, one of the borough’s key specialist providers, will expand into a new satellite site at Quantum Point in Hyde. The site will create 40 new places for children with the most complex needs, helping ensure that pupils can continue their education within Tameside throughout their school years.
The move supports Tameside Council’s goal of reducing the need for children to travel long distances for an appropriate school place.
Councillor Leanne Feeley, Executive Member for Lifelong Learning and Culture, said: “The increase of SEND school places in specialist and mainstream settings demonstrates our ongoing commitment to provide appropriate school places and educational opportunities for children and young people with additional needs.
“SEND services are a council priority and this investment follows the addition of 133 places created for the September 2025 term.
“Providing settings where children can thrive and ensuring these places are as close to home as possible is a key aspect in the Council’s SEND Sufficiency Strategy 2025-2030. Our SEND Local Area Improvement Board continues to work closely together to support families, and this development is another step forward in our partnership work.”
This comes as leaked government plans suggest that SEND children in England will have their right to support reviewed as they move into secondary school.
Children with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) – legal documents setting out what extra support they are entitled to – will be reassessed after primary school from 2029 as part of a wider system overhaul.