Hampshire County Council and Inspire Learning Partnership Academy Trust considers expanding SEN provision at Blackfield Primary School by 12 spaces
SPECIAL education provision could be increased at a Waterside school under proposals by Hampshire County Council.
Blackfield Primary School in Hampton Lane could expand its SEMH provision (Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties) for children aged four to 11, with an additional 12 spaces for pupils with education, health, and care plans (EHCPs).
If given the go-ahead, HCC says it would work with the Inspire Learning Partnership Academy Trust, which runs the school, to establish the provision from September 2025.
The council has allocated £679,829 to fund a total of 58 spaces for children at four schools in the county - Blackfield, Bedenham Primary School and Holbrook Primary School in Gosport, and Cherbourg Primary School in Eastleigh.
As of July 2024 Hampshire County Council was maintaining 17,002 EHCP plans, which detail the extra support a child needs.
In the last year the county council has been extending its provision across all state schools by creating additional places for children with autistic spectrum condition, social, language and communication needs (SLCN), and social, emotional and mental health difficulties.
HCC cabinet member for education, Cllr Steve Forster, welcomed the expansion. He said: “It’s such an important area to ensure those specialist places are provided.
“I’m really pleased that we’ve been responsive to the lack of take-up on the SLCN places, and shifting that capacity to autistic spectrum conditions is really good news.
"I think it just demonstrates or evidences the responsiveness and the way that we are very much looking at what the needs are and making sure we are delivering those most effectively, most speedily, and most cost-effectively as well.”
A four-week statutory consultation will be undertaken by HCC regarding the proposals to increase the resourced provisions at the schools in Gosport and Eastleigh.
As an academy, Blackfield Primary School will undertake its own four-week consultation.
