A DROYLSDEN headteacher who refused to send children with complex autism needs out of their local community school is preparing to open a new £750,000 specialist SEND unit this autumn.
The purpose-built facility at St Stephen’s RC Primary School will provide 16 places for children with Education, Health and Care Plans across Early Years, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.
Funded entirely by Tameside Council, the new unit will include two specialist classrooms, a sensory room, one-to-one provision spaces, changing facilities and a dedicated outdoor play area for pupils with complex autism needs.
Headteacher Connor Lavin said the Chappell Road school began adapting its provision two years ago, before formal funding had been secured, because staff believed families should not be forced to look elsewhere for support.
Mr Lavin said: “These children were here, on our roll, and we had to act and provide them with what they needed and deserved. Placing them in a mainstream classroom would not give them the tools to thrive. Now they walk in calmly. Their parents leave smiling. The children are happy, and most importantly, thriving. That is the difference when you get the right provision at the right time.”
The school’s existing specialist setting, known as The Learning Centre (TLC), currently supports eight non-verbal autistic pupils. Before the provision was introduced, some children had been placed on reduced timetables because mainstream classrooms could not fully meet their needs. They are now attending school full time.
One parent, referred to as Jane Smith to protect her child’s identity, said: “St Stephen’s was the only truly inclusive school we considered for our child. From the very beginning, the staff have been incredibly warm and welcoming, and most importantly, they have taken the time to understand and meet my child’s needs in the right environment. We’ve seen such a positive difference – it really does feel like they belong here.”
The school, part of Emmaus Catholic Academy Trust, was rated outstanding for Catholic Life and Mission in a Catholic Schools Inspectorate (CSI) inspection earlier this year, with inspectors praising its support for vulnerable pupils and families, including children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
The development comes as the government’s SEND reform consultation, titled “Putting Children and Young People First”, approaches its closing date on Monday, May 18.
Emmaus Catholic Academy Trust, which operates 32 schools across Greater Manchester and supports nearly 1,700 pupils with SEND, says it plans to submit a formal response calling for better NHS-funded support services to be delivered directly through schools.
Chief executive Daniel Copley said: “The children in our schools cannot wait for a national framework to catch up with what they need right now. Connor and his team at St Stephen’s understood that. They got on with it. That is exactly the approach we want to see across all our schools, and it is what the government’s own SEND reforms are now recognising needs to happen everywhere.”
He added: “We have not been shouting about what we are doing. We have been getting on with it. But as the consultation closes, I think it matters that schools and trusts with real experience of this work are heard. The case for change is strong. The test will be whether the whole system, health included, moves quickly enough to meet it.”