What we are proposing
We are very excited to annouce a proposed initiative to enhance support for pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) within Lincolnshire.
Lincolnshire County Council (LCC), in partnership with the following schools (and a number of academies who are carrying out their own consultations), is today commencing a consultation on the proposed development of a SEND Hub at:
- The Meadows Primary School, Lincoln
- St George’s Church of England Primary School, Gainsborough
- Caistor Church of England and Methodist Primary School, Caistor
- Gonerby Hill Foot Church of England Primary School, Grantham
- The Church Lane Primary School, Sleaford
Proposals
Since 2019, we have been implementing the “building communities of specialist provision strategy”, which has provided major improvements to educational provision for children and young people with special additional needs and disabilities.
This focused on enhancing special school provision.
However, we also believe that, for the majority of children and young people with SEND, mainstream schools can offer a high-quality education in an inclusive and encouraging environment, where pupils can achieve the best outcomes possible, with access to a rich and wide curriculum.
For the majority of children and young people with SEND, being educated in a mainstream setting with enhanced support is the right type of education and the council, in collaboration with a number of schools and academies, is seeking to develop this opportunity.
We are proposing to develop a new type of provision for Lincolnshire called mainstream SEND Hubs. The SEND Hubs aim to provide children and young people with Education, Health, and Care (EHC) plans access to quality teaching in their local school, fostering skills, independence, resilience, and readiness for their next stage of educational journey and adulthood, while promoting a sense of belonging in their community.
The Hubs would be aimed at supporting children and young people with additional needs to be educated and have their needs met in a mainstream school with enhanced facilities by knowledgeable and skilled staff. The mainstream SEND hub will be part of the mainstream school, providing an enhanced educational offer for pupils with SEND in the mainstream setting.
The SEND Hubs will be for pupils with EHC plans and provide a level of provision between mainstream and special education.
Access to the SEND Hub will be through the formalised EHC needs assessment or annual review route.
The local authority would agree and name a host mainstream school through the consultation process, with the designation of their mainstream SEND Hub named in the pupils’ EHC plan, if deemed the most appropriate type of setting. All pupils will be on the mainstream school roll and expected to be included regularly in events at the mainstream school, in accordance with individual need.
All Lincolnshire schools have been approached with the offer of setting up a SEND Hub and following a series of discussions, 11 primary schools and three secondary schools have been identified as suitable for the first wave of implementation.
It is a long term ambition to expand this offer further.
Should this initiative be agreed, we are intending to complete the capital works required to establish SEND Hubs in host schools during the following 12 months. Work would be carefully phased to minimise any disruption to schools and pupils, with main works taking place during school holidays. More information will be published once a final decision is made and more detail is known.
These proposals have the potential to make a significant, positive change to future provision for pupils with special educational and disability needs across Lincolnshire. Please take time to let us know what you think.
What the Hub will look like
Each approved host school will facilitate either one or two classrooms within the SEND Hub, with a maximum of two classrooms per school. Each classroom will have capacity for up to ten places commissioned by the local authority via the EHC plan route, along with up to three places available for the host school to utilise at their discretion.
SEND Hubs are being collaboratively developed with each host school and therefore the offer may vary depending on school preference, capacity within the school and local demand.
Hubs may consist of formally agreed provision for key stage one and two within primary schools and key stage three and four within secondary schools. Or they may offer only one key stage which will move through the school with the cohort of allocated pupils. This will be decided with the individual school.
As a minimum, all Hubs will offer:
- a suitably sized classroom, within the school’s existing building
- direct access to a breakout space or sensory space to allow time for pupils to regulate and manage their feelings
- direct access to secure outside space to allow free-flow learning and opportunities for regulation outside of the classroom
Of the 11 primary schools chosen for this initiative, five are local authority maintained and are therefore subject to this formal consultation.
Host schools will receive funding which covers the full costs of facilitating the SEND Hubs, including the following staffing levels per classroom:
- one qualified teacher
- two teaching assistants
- one intervention worker
- enhanced leadership time
- enhanced SENDCo time
- additional midday supervisor time
- additional learning resources
The Hub will belong to the school, and be managed and staffed by the school.
The council will also be funding all capital costs associated with the development of SEND Hubs. Schools and academies will not be detrimentally impacted financially with the implementation of the SEND Hubs, nor will they impact the school’s ability or financial capacity to meet the needs of children and young people educated in the wider school.
We will begin opening SEND Hubs from September 2025 onwards. Some will be ready to open from this date and others may take longer due to the building works required. All schools will be opening their Hubs and admitting pupils throughout the 25/26 academic year.
Each school hosting a SEND Hub will be provided with an enhanced level of training and the offer of specialist expertise to meet the needs of pupils with SEND. A robust training offer has been developed for all host school personnel, aimed at governors or trustees, senior leadership, teaching and non-teaching staff and all specifically working directly with the SEND Hubs. This training has been developed by expertise from the local special school sector.
As part of this process we are proposing to reduce the Published Admissions Number (PAN) at Caistor Church of England and Methodist School from 45 to 30 to ensure that classroom accommodation remains available for use as a SEND Hub and ensure that there are sufficient mainstream school places for children from the local community. All other mainstream schools will retain their existing PAN.
Have your say
We welcome your comments on this exciting proposal to further develop Lincolnshire’s educational provision to create nurturing, inclusive environments where every child and young person can succeed.
The comments will need to be submitted by Monday 10 February 2025 for academies, Monday 17 February for LA maintained schools. If you would like to discuss these proposals further before responding, then please contact the SEND and inclusion team using the contact details provided below.
Responses can be either submitted through a simple online survey or in writing. A consultation response form is available on request from the school organisation team. Paper response forms should be returned by the deadline to either the school office or directly to the school organisation team.
Please choose the relevant survey below
Further information related to this proposal and the consultation will be published online
Email the SEND and inclusion team
Email the school organisation team
or write to school organisation planning team, Lincolnshire County Council, County Offices, Newland, Lincoln LN1 1YQ.