Cheshire East school opens new wing to accommodate more special needs pupils

A Cheshire East school has celebrated the opening of a new £1m wing, which provides more classrooms for its special needs pupils.

The expansion has allowed Springfield School, in Crewe, to take on more pupils through the creation of five purpose-built classrooms, complemented by new dining facilities.

The pupils have named the block Spring-High which, in the main, provides classrooms for secondary-age pupils and which complements similar names for other parts of the school – Spring-Field for primary age pupils and Spring-Board for older children, which provides supported internships to prepare them for adulthood and work opportunities.  

Cheshire East Council helped to fund the extension, which enables the school to take on more pupils, with additional needs aged four to18. Funding also came from the school itself and developer funding via section 106 agreements.

Springfield School caters for children with profound, severe and moderate learning difficulties and is seen as an exemplar in special needs education, receiving four consecutive ‘outstanding’ ratings from Ofsted.

Councillor Dorothy Flude, Cheshire East Council cabinet member for children and families, said: “I attended the opening of the new wing of the school and I was extremely impressed with the facilities on offer to the older pupils.

“The classrooms are spacious, bright and airy and all the pupils were excited to have these wonderful purpose-built spaces. We were all able to tour the building and see for ourselves how much the pupils were enjoying and benefiting from the new facilities.

“Our commitment is to create more special educational places within Cheshire East, so that young people can be educated as near as possible to their local community. We have further plans to expand provision at Park Lane Special School, in Macclesfield, to ensure we create additional capacity across the borough.”

Lisa Hodgkison, headteacher at Springfield School, said: “Our pupils are delighted with the extra space this provides and they even have new school uniforms to celebrate. We now have much-needed extended accommodation and have been able to take on additional pupils.”