Plans to expand special school provision in Hertfordshire have been approved, with a public consultation now under way.

A consultation has been launched for Featherstone Wood Primary School in Shephall to increase provision by 12 places for children with communication and autism needs from September 2025. 

New Specialist Resource Provisions (SRPs) are set to be opened at both Featherstone and Brockswood Primary in Hemel Hempstead, which will allow tailored support to be given each individual pupil by keeping the number of places small with higher ratios of staff.

 A public consultation on the proposals will run from September 26 until 23 October 2024.

The aim is to help each pupil develop their social and communication skills and their confidence, allowing them to increase the time spent in mainstream classes.

Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) said that with the support of £137m of funding, they are committed to delivering additional special school places through their Special School Place Planning Strategy.

So far, this has included the creation of 764 additional special school places since 2018, with a further 188 places delivered or planned in specialist resource provisions linked to mainstream schools.

Councillor Caroline Clapper, executive member for education, at (HCC) said: “We want all children in Hertfordshire including those with SEND to have their needs met with a range of inclusive provision available through our mainstream schools, specialist resource provision, alternative and special school provision.”

“We have numerous large-scale new school developments due to be completed in the coming years, but we know that waiting for a place at school can have a huge impact on children, young people and their families,” she continued.

“This is why we’ve been working with all our schools to think innovatively about how we can create new places, quickly, to meet immediate need."

The council also discussed the outcome of a public consultation proposal to enlarge The Collett School in Hemel Hempstead by 50 places from January 2026 for children ages 4 to 16 with learning difficulties.

Public consultations on proposals to increase Amwell View School in Stanstead Abbotts by up to 32 places from September 2025 and 100 places from January 2028 were also recently approved.

The public consultations went live on September 9 and will run until October 6 2024.

For more information on the council’s increasing specialist provision and school places, visit https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/microsites/local-offer/education-support/education-options/increasing-specialist-provision-and-school-places-in-hertfordshire.aspx

For information and resources to help you support a child with SEND, visit https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/microsites/Local-Offer/The-Hertfordshire-Local-Offer.aspx