Council’s huge investment continues to improve schools across Lincolnshire
Following the official opening of the new £13.2m Boston Endeavour Academy and a £6.5m extension to Willoughby Academy in Bourne, other Lincolnshire special schools are benefitting from improvements.
One of the council's top priorities is ensuring all local children get a great start in life, and a good education is vital to that.
That's why the authority is investing around £86m in improving and expanding 13 special school sites across Lincolnshire over the next few years.
Recently, new classroom blocks were completed at St Bernard’s School in Louth and Eresby School in Spilsby, providing new teaching and care facilities. In addition, the existing buildings have been refurbished and remodelled, while, outside, improvements were made to car parking and pick up/drop off arrangements.
Not only will these improvements mean more places are available at the schools, but they will also mean that existing pupils can enjoy much better facilities, closer to home.
Progress is also being made on an extension to St Christopher’s School in Lincoln. In order to increase the school’s capacity, the council is constructing a new 130-place school on the site of the former Priory Witham Academy Junior School.
This new building will include 15 classrooms, alongside therapy spaces, a large hall, a hydrotherapy pool and physiotherapy and medical rooms. This new site will be for St Christopher’s primary-aged pupils and is expected to be completed by towards the end of 2023.
Once completed, St Christopher’s current site will become home to its secondary-aged pupils, with the current buildings being extensively redeveloped and remodelled as part of the improvement project.
Cllr Mrs Patricia Bradwell OBE, executive member for children's services, said: "We want to ensure that all children can access high-quality education, as near to their family and local community as possible.
"So, the council is investing £86m to improve the support for children with SEND, which will see an additional 500 special school places created over the next five years.
"These improvements will mean more pupils with SEND can attend a local school rather than having to travel large distances for their education, which will benefit both the children and their families.”
Looking ahead, an extension to The Priory School in Spalding is expected to be completed in early 2023, while improvements are also being planned for St Lawrence School in Horncastle, St Francis School in Lincoln and Gosberton House Academy.