A York school is to benefit from a £1.5 million refit to improve the building for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) – and address safeguarding concerns.
Clifton Green Primary School received a ‘good’ Ofsted inspection in summer last year, but school leaders hope to attain the highest rating of ‘outstanding’ in future.
The school serves one of the most deprived wards in the city and has a higher proportion of children with social, emotional and mental health needs – a number which has “noticeably increased” due to the impact of the pandemic and cost of living crisis, according to a council report.
“This requires enhanced pastoral provision and spaces for children to regulate their emotions and process their experiences on a 1:1 and small group basis,” the report said.
But many teaching areas in the building are inaccessible, cannot be used or are incorrectly located around the school – making it more difficult to help these children.
York’s Rapid Improvement Group, which supports schools to improve their learning offer, has suggested a reorganisation of the school.
There are also concerns about safety and security around the school site. Proposals to remedy this include building a fence around the perimeter of the field and a fence to prevent children from running into the car park
Maxine Squire, assistant director of education and skills, said: “We identified aspects of the site that could be made to work better to secure the improvements that the school had been making – and also to realise the ambitions that the school has to deliver high quality education for all children regardless of their needs.”
Senior councillors approved the plans at a meeting of the executive committee.
Executive member for education Cllr Andrew Waller said: “The key issue here is the support for the young people and I think this shows confidence in ensuring that every school has a good building.”
The work will be carried out over two summers to reduce the disruption to pupils and staff.