At Bury Council, we are committed to making sure children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) feel they belong, are understood, and have their needs met in Bury schools.
This is a key priority of Bury’s Education and Inclusion Strategy, with a shared ambition that every child feels a sense of belonging and is supported to achieve within their local community. With this aim, Bury Council is committed to ensuring there is sufficient specialist provision locally to meet the needs of children and young people.Plans for a new specialist secondary SEMH school, delivered in partnership with the Oak Learning Partnership, are progressing, with an anticipated opening in 2028.
This will create 60 additional specialist places for secondary‑aged pupils in the borough. As part of national changes to the way special school places are planned, the Government has confirmed that, instead of the previously approved 80‑place primary autism special school, the local authority will receive £3.9 million over three years to create the planned number of specialist places through alternative approaches, including:
• Strengthening specialist support in mainstream settings.
• Expanding and enhancing current SEND provision where needed.
This approach focuses on investing in what already works well locally. This may include increasing the number of places in existing specialist provisions, developing additional resourced or specialist support bases within mainstream schools, improving facilities, and ensuring schools have the expertise and capacity to meet a wider range of needs. This allows us to respond more flexibly and more quickly, ensuring support is available where children need it most.
We recognise that some families may feel disappointed that a new primary autism special school will not be built as originally planned. It is important to be clear that this change reflects a national Government decision, not a local one. Our focus now is on ensuring the investment we have been given is used in the most effective way to meet the needs of children and young people in Bury.
Over the coming months, we understand that some parents and carers may have concerns about these changes, and we welcome the opportunity to listen. We will work alongside parents and carers, schools and partners to shape how this funding is used. Parent and carer views will be gathered through a range of opportunities, including engagement events and existing parent forums.
Your experiences and insights will play a central role in shaping the next stage of this work, and we will continue to share updates as plans develop.