Plans to expand a Horncastle special needs school and nearly double its capacity have been given the go ahead.
Lincolnshire County Council, which is behind the plans, was given permission by its planning officers to create an entirely new two-storey building at St Lawrence School, including 17 classrooms, main hall, physiotherapy rooms, sensory and calming rooms, and more.
It is part of an £86 million investment in special needs schools across the county and will see pupil capacity increase from 80 to around 150.
Lincolnshire County Council’s aim is to limit the number of pupils travelling outside of the county for their education.
The school currently operates way over capacity with 178 pupils supported by 78 staff.
Although pupil numbers will reduce after the new build, the documents say primary and secondary students will be offered: “much improved and specialist teaching spaces, enabling it to meet a wider range of needs and giving students access to a broader curriculum.”
“As all the other SEND schools in the county are expanding or have been developed to support all through all needs provision, it is envisaged that students who currently attend St Lawrence and who travel long distances to attend the school will be able to transfer and attend their local school which can then meet their educational requirements/needs,” said a delegated decision report from LCC case officer Marc Willis.
Visualisations of the new project. | Image: Kier
The old school will be kept open during building works in a bid to minimise disruption to pupils’ school year.
Once the new building is completed, the old school will be demolished to make way for soft landscaping and outdoor playing field.
Elsewhere, there will be 55 standard car parking bays, four enlarged parking bays and four accessible bays along with capacity for up to 28 minibuses.
Council bosses hope work will be able to start in Autumn 2022.
An aerial view of how the school might look. | Image: Kier
The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.
We are investigating a road traffic collision which happened just after 5pm today.
The crash happened on the A15 just south of Waddington and involved a black Peugeot 208 that collided with a tree. The driver of the car, a 56-year-old male, was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
The A15 was closed just before 6pm and is likely to remain closed for some time.
We are particularly keen to hear from those who were driving along the A15 this afternoon between 4pm and 5:10pm and may have captured dashcam footage of the road during the collision.
If you have dashcam footage or any other information that will assist in our enquiries, there are a number of ways you can get in touch.
By calling 101 quoting incident 285 of 4 July.
By emailing [email protected] quoting incident 285 of 4 July in the subject line.
If you wish to remain anonymous, you can report via the independent charity CrimeStoppers on 0800 555 111 or online.
We are appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage following a serious collision in Ingoldmells.
Just after 12.30pm on Saturday (2 July), we received reports of a collision involving a silver Vauxhall Vivaro and a 76-year-old male pedestrian on Hurdman Way.
The male pedestrian was taken to hospital with serious injuries. The A52 at Ingoldmells was closed to allow emergency services to deal with the incident.
If you witnessed the collision or have dashcam footage available, please get in touch.
By calling 101 quoting incident 209 of 2 July.
By emailing [email protected] quoting incident 209 of 2 July in the subject line.
If you wish to remain anonymous, you can report via the independent charity CrimeStoppers on 0800 555 111 or online.
Whatsapp
