Liberal Democrat Milton Keynes to Build New Special Needs School

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 26th Jul 2005

Pupils with special needs will soon benefit from a new multi-million pound education facility in the city. A proposal to build a new Walnuts School at Hazeley in the western part of Milton Keynes has been approved by the Liberal Democrat cabinet. Construction is expected to begin in October this year, with completion by October 2006.

The proposed state-of-the-art school, which is estimated to cost £7.2 million, will cater for up to 90 pupils and is part of a long-term plan to develop specialised school provision for pupils with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and severe communication difficulties.

Councillor Sandra Clark, Liberal Democrat cabinet member responsible for schools, said: "The construction of this new school is fulfilling one of our manifesto pledges. We want to invest in modern, well-equipped learning facilities for as many children with special needs as possible."

Currently the Walnuts School operates in less than ideal premises at Simpson, and caters for pupils from 3-12 years old. Some of the benefits of the new purpose-built new school will be:

• Its location next to Hazeley School, which is a new secondary school opening this September. This will enable the Walnuts' students to have some mainstream experience while at the same time accessing more specialised educational resources and equipment

• The new all-age Walnuts School will remove the need for students to transfer to a different secondary school. It will enable them to stay within Milton Keynes for their secondary education and be further included in their local schools and community.

• It will cater for the growing number of young people with ASD across the city and also support children from neighbouring authorities who do not have provision close to their homes.

• The new school will have all-year-round boarding provision for those who need it, whether for a few nights each week or for 52 weeks in the year.

To comply with statutory regulations, there has been public consultation on the change in the location and the age range of the Walnuts School. The feedback has, as expected, been very positive.