In the light of the government's announcement of reforms to the SEND system, Norfolk County Council leaders were urged to consider using the former Angel Road Junior School site in Norwich as a specialist hub for youngsters with extra needs.

Pupils were last taught in the Angel Road Junior School building, which dates to the late 1800s, in June 2021, when it was suddenly shut after tiles fell from the ceiling.

Leaders at County Hall had previously ruled out turning it into a special school, saying a feasibility study had found it would be too costly.

Labour councillor Mike Smith-Clare (Image: Labour Party)

But at a meeting of the council's Conservative-controlled cabinet, Mike Smith-Clare, deputy leader of County Hall's Labour group, asked if the recently announced SEND reforms could provide a fresh opportunity.

He said: "With the new education white paper and the council’s commitment to SEND provision, does the cabinet member see potential scope for the former Angel Road Junior School to be retained as a SEND hub that might also provide opportunities for transition and support for families managing the SEND system?"

Penny Carpenter, Norfolk County Council cabinet member for children's services (Image: James Bass)

But Penny Carpenter, cabinet member for children's services, said: "The former Angel Road Junior School has already been explored for its potential use as a special school or special school satellite.

"Given its condition as an aging Victorian building, it has been ruled out as being suitable to deliver to best value the modern educational environment children with SEND require to meet their needs.

"The SEND Reform paper sets an ambition for enabling greater proportions of children with SEND to be educated in mainstream settings, with specialist provision prioritised for children with the highest level of need.

"Repurposing Angel Road Junior as a stand-alone facility for children with SEND and their families, whether educationally or otherwise, runs counter to the Reform principles of connecting support for families to their current school, and through transition, their onward school or setting."

The former Angel Road Junior School in Norwich (Image: Denise Bradley)

As part of its proposed reforms, the government will invest £200m in training for teachers in how to support SEND children.

Mainstream schools will get £1.6bn over three years to become more inclusive of additional needs and provide SEND support, and £1.8bn will go towards creating a bank of specialists in every area.

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