Schools invited to bid for £7m to improve children's special needs inclusion in mainstream education

Schools have been invited by Derbyshire County Council to submit proposals for a share of £7m to fund additional special needs school places and support for children with special educational needs and disabilities in mainstream education.

The funding will create special needs places in mainstream schools to improve inclusion across Derbyshire and support the development of education resource centres and SEND units within schools, both of which offer specialist nurturing teaching environments for vulnerable learners.

Schools across the county have been invited to put forward proposals for a share of the funding through Derbyshire’s Education Partnership Board in close collaboration with the council and have also worked together with the authority - in their nine geographical ‘clusters’ - to maximise the benefits of the SEND funding.

The county council has provided the clusters with significant geographic data around current and future projected need around how many enhanced mainstream places are likely to be required, plus options for reusing space, and agreed the proposals must come from schools themselves, who know their areas and their children best.

Derbyshire County Council Cabinet Member for Education Councillor Alex Dale said: “I’m delighted that after significant investment and work to create more places in our special schools over the past year, we’re now able to move to the next phase of our project to enhance inclusion in mainstream schools so more children with additional needs can get the right support, at the right time and in the right environment they need to thrive alongside their peers. 

“This is the culmination of a really collaborative piece of work with all our schools via the Education Partnership Board and I want to thank them for their input and ideas. They know their schools and areas best and doing it in this way means all areas of the county will hopefully benefit from this funding.”

Over the past year the council has allocated more than £11m of its £28m SEND capital budget to create 300 additional places at its 10 special schools across the county. 

Some phases of these projects are yet to receive funding and proposals for further allocations totalling more than £6m will be considered by the council’s Cabinet in the next few weeks.

The £7m the council has invited schools to submit proposals for to improve SEND inclusion, is from the remaining £10m in the budget, leaving a £3m contingency for any project cost escalation.

Councillor Dale added: “We have a delicate balance to strike with this funding between projects to expand special schools, which are clearly needed, and our ambition - and the ambition nationally - to promote special needs inclusion in mainstream schools.

“We can only spend this money once and we’re working closely with schools using robust data around current and future need to carefully consider where it would be best spent to generate the most benefit for children with SEND across the whole county, not just in one or two areas.

“These are really important decisions which will affect children’s lives not only now but for years to come and with that responsibility in mind and given the criticism some councils have faced for focusing too much on specialist provision and not spreading the funding geographically, I believe we’re getting the balance right with this approach.”

Meanwhile, the Government announced last autumn that a further £750m will be made available this year to support local authorities with projects like the ones being funded in Derbyshire to improve inclusion for children with SEND in mainstream schools with additional special needs places and to develop enhanced support centres and SEND units. 

The county council hopes Derbyshire’s allocation, to be announced by the Government in the coming weeks, could enhance the £7m it has just announced.