Work has now completed on the expansion of Northcott School to increase capacity for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Four extra classrooms have been created at the special, co-educational school, which is for pupils with Autism, Asperger’s and social, communication learning difficulties within Hull and the local area.
To mark the exciting milestone for the school, pupils have been involved in creating a time capsule that will be buried alongside their new classrooms for future generations to uncover.
Northcott School Head Teacher Katherine Johnson, said:
“This development is incredibly exciting and will allow our school to expand and meet the needs of more young people requiring support with speech, language and communication needs.
“We are delighted to officially open our new modular buildings that will not only add much needed capacity to the SEND places in the city but will allow us to offer education for our pupils from 3-19. It means that we’ll be able to provide much needed post-16 places to those who are not ready to start college, training or employment at 16.
“This milestone is monumental in our history and we are proud to have worked hard alongside Hull City Council and its partners to plan and deliver the next chapter in Northcott’s future. We are very thankful to all involved who have worked with care and understanding of our pupils and schools’ needs throughout.”
Northcott’s origin dates back to 1931 when it started its life as the Open Air School on Cottingham Road. At that time, it met the needs of those children who were disadvantaged following the War.
Those who had asthma, bronchial weakness and required an open air educational offer to build their resilience and strength were allocated a place. It then moved to Barham Road when it became a special school in the more modern day sense. It moved to its current Bransholme location in the 1960’s and has since undergone only minor alterations as the cohort of students has grown and changed.
The project is funded by Hull City Council via the Esteem partnership and Hull construction company Geo Houlton & Sons are carrying out the work.
The expansion forms part of the council’s wider strategy to improve and increase SEND provision. Last year, the council announced £600,000 would be spent expanding the schools’ age range from 5-16 to 3-19, and increasing the number of its pupil places to 200.
Pauline Turner, Director of Children and Family Services at Hull City Council said: “We want all children and young people with SEND in our city to be healthy and happy, make friends, develop their confidence and independence and fulfil their potential. This expansion will help ensure the school can continue to deliver high-quality education to pupils with SEND.”
Gavin Barley, General Manager, Hull Esteem, said:
“Following Hull City Council’s inspection of Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) across the city, we’ve been working closely with the authority to produce a strategy to address the needs of children and young people who require this additional support. The expansion at Northcott School is just one way we’re assisting the authority in delivering extra places across the city, and builds on the progress made last year with Hull’s first purpose-built base within a mainstream school for children with Autistic Spectrum Conditions (ASC) at Broadacre Primary.”
Dean Platts, Contracts Manager, Geo Houlton & Sons, added:
“Geo Houlton & Sons are extremely proud to have delivered this scheme working in partnership with Esteem and Hull City Council. Northcott School are very deserving of the investment and have been an excellent end user who have been both pro-active and very positive throughout the whole project.”