A new Special Free School for North Somerset

on 11 March 2019, the Education Secretary announced approval of bids for 37 new Special Free Schools across the country, creating around 3,500 additional school places, boosting choice for parents and providing specialist support and education for pupils with complex needs such as autism, severe learning difficulties or mental health conditions, and those who may have been or are at risk of being excluded from mainstream schools.

In North Somerset, a bid was approved to develop and open a school meeting the needs of children and young people with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs. The competition for sponsors to open this school is now underway.

Our Specification

Interested sponsors may wish to download our specification for the proposed school, which includes our plans for commissioning places, financial details and confirmation of the site identified for the school.

Applications will close on 30 September 2019 and should be made using the Department for Education's guidance and application forms which are available on the gov.uk website.

You can find out more about North Somerset and the council's plans for the area in our Corporate Plan.

Equalities Impact Assessment

We have developed an outline equalities impact assessment for the proposed new school, which can be downloaded here.

Engagement Event

We invited interested sponsors to join us an event to hear more about North Somerset and the exciting potential for this new school on Wednesday 8 May. You can download the presentation from the event here.

Meeting with Parent/Carer Groups

Sponsors were invited to meet with local parent/carer representative groups and our SENDIAS service on 26th June 2019. A note of the areas discussed is available for download here.