The Chronicle (South Tyneside and Durham)
Plans unveiled for new school in city
PLANS to build a new school for Newcastle children with autism have been unveiled.
City education chiefs are hoping to build a new school in Byker that could support almost 200 children and young people aged four to 16.
There have been a series of warnings over recent years about the pressing need for a new special school in Newcastle, as the number of youngsters diagnosed with autism has risen substantially.
Newcastle City Council leader Nick Kemp said the proposals for a new facility on local authority-owned land in Allendale Road would “ensure more children and young people receive the support they need in an environment where they can thrive”.
However, no funding for the development has yet been secured from the Government and the financial cost of the project is unknown.
A council spokesperson said that the majority of the costs of building a new special school would have to come from the Department for Education (DFE).
But it emerged in May 2023 that the council had failed in a funding bid to the DFE.
A five-week public consultation on the Allendale Road plans was launched this week and civic centre officials say they have also commissioned a feasibility study to develop a fully costed proposal for the site. If successful, the school would cater for up to 192 children and a multi-academy trust would be appointed by the council to run it.
Coun Kemp said: “There has been an increasing demand for services that specialise in supporting young people with autism. The creation of this new facility will help address this and ensure more children and young people receive the support they need in an environment where they can thrive. These proposals demonstrate our continued commitment to i mproving services and supporting our children and young people into a successful future.”
Previous council forecasts have suggested that an extra 320 to 380 schools places for children with autism would need to be created to cope with rising demand.
Plans were announced last year for an expansion of Thomas Bewick School in West Denton, which provides specialist provision for children and young people with autism from ages three to 19, to boost its capacity by up to 56 pupils.
The number of pupils in Newcastle identified with special educational needs jumped from 6,262 in 2016/17 to 6,618 in 2020/21.