Purpose

The Local Authority has a duty is to ensure
that there are sufficient high quality places to meet evolving
pupil needs. The increase in demand for special school places means
that this project
will have a positive impact on, in particular, mainstream schools,
which would otherwise have pupils requiring specialist provision on
their rolls.
There is a wider need to accommodate additional specialist school
places, with a locality approach. The local context data is
evidence that there has been a sharp increase in the demand for
statutory assessments and the number of EHCPs is rising quickly. In
addition to this, there has been an increase in children and young
people educated in out-of-area provision; of these, the majority
have a primary need of SEMH. This proposal is part of a wider
strategy to
ensure place sufficiency for pupils with SEMH needs

Content

To reduce the high cost of out of area
placements where needs cannot currently be met in Doncaster we will
fund the development of four Social Emotional and Mental Health
(SEMH) hubs on the sites of mainstream schools.

Following a commissioning exercise seeking expressions of interest
we are developing four SEMH hubs, three primary and one secondary
on the following school sites.
• Castle Hills Primary with The Leger Trust – Additional
Building
• Conisbrough Ivanhoe Primary with Venn Academy Trust –
Additional Building
• Brooke Primary with Venn Academy Trust – Internal
Refurbishment
• The McAuley School with Nexus Academy Trust –
Additional Building
The works will commence this summer with a planned completion in
the autumn 2023