Selworthy Special School, in Taunton, is set to soon begin a £5.5 million rebuilding and expansion project. This decision follows the worrying find of unsafe concrete RAAC in one of their classrooms last August. The pilot’s goal is to meet the acute needs of students and in the process, reduce the financial burden on the council in their local area.
Selworthy Special School has been rebuilding to increase the size of the school’s facilities. All of these updates will provide 24 more spaces for their students, meeting the growing demand for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) support in the community. The project will include necessary repairs to the existing classrooms within the one-storey building, which features a grey exterior and has a car park adjacent to its main entrance.
Lewis Andrews, the council’s SEND sufficiency manager, said this project was ‘pivotal’. He argued that the rebuild would take financial pressure off of the council’s budget. It would help meet the growing demand for SEND placements. “Although the council is responsible for ensuring there is sufficient provision for SEND provision, it has not had the regulatory power to open new schools,” Andrews explained.
The council has struggled to house special needs students with the necessary provisions, due to a lack of cupboards. Andrews highlighted how this unique context has prevented the council’s ideal ‘local first’ policy for school placements. As a result, many children experience long commutes, often passing by special schools that could have met their needs if space were available.
Right this moment, Selworthy Special School is experiencing an exciting rebuild! It’s on schedule to be finished right when students are scheduled to start walking through the doors again in September 2026. This timeline is closely matched with the council’s long-standing promise to deliver educational facilities that are good enough for every child in their jurisdiction.
The project continues now, both in creating a better physical infrastructure for Selworthy Special School. Simultaneously, it guarantees us that local families can afford the quality education tailored to their children’s individual needs. Our Local Democracy Reporting Service has been following this story very closely, underscoring the enormous importance of this to the community.
