School head speaks out against plans to reshape special education

The head teacher of one the county’s only local authority run special schools has criticised new plans which will see existing schools squeeze in more pupils to save money.

In today’s news we return to an issue we have been reporting for some time - the education of special needs children in our county.

By Sarah Ward

Laura Clarke, headteacher of Rowan Gate Primary School, which has sites in Wellingborough and Rushden, said the public needed to be aware of what is going on and that school’s like hers are almost at double capacity with no extra space, as the authority tries to get its special needs spending to meet the amount allocated by central government.

With a £2.2m overspend predicted for this financial year education bosses at North Northamptonshire Council are currently drawing up plans to radically reshape the way children with special needs are educated in the county - with a move to educating more children in mainstream schools, partly driven by the escalating costs of sending children to schools out of the county due to a shortage of places in Northants. This year the authority will spend £7.7m of its overall allocated £336m for all schooling in N…