SEN Unit

Consultation on proposed changes to Dulverton Junior School

The change being proposed is the creation of an onsite Special Educational Needs (SEN) Unit for six to eight local children that have an education, health and care plan whose needs cannot be met within a mainstream classroom.

Somerset Council and the governors of Dulverton Junior School believe that this proposal will help the school better respond to the needs of children and young people who live in the locality.

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What is an SEN unit?

An SEN unit is a separate classroom and facilities within a school setting for children that have special educational needs that cannot be met within mainstream classes.

By educating these children within a small specialist environment that has been designed to meet their needs, it is much more likely that their educational potential will be realised.

Why is an SEN unit needed?

There is currently a shortfall of specialist education places in the county. Most of the existing special schools, autism bases and SEN units are already full to capacity. As a result of this, Somerset Council is currently having to purchase high-cost placements from schools in the independent and non-maintained sector. These schools often require children to travel long distances from home.

Somerset Council’s ambition is to open a number of new SEN units around the county on mainstream school sites, enabling children with SEN to attend their local school. The Council will be refurbishing and equipping existing rooms within school sites that are not required for the delivery of mainstream provision.

Dulverton Junior School will be one of the first schools to benefit from the new provision.  

Who will the new school places cater for?

The SEN unit will cater for children that have education, health and care plans that set out their social, emotional and mental health needs.

How many children will attend the SEN unit, and how will places be allocated?

There are likely to be six to eight children educated in the SEN unit at any one time.

Places will be allocated by Somerset Council’s Statutory SEND service in consultation with staff at the school. Children placed at the SEN unit will be local children from the West Somerset locality.

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For the full details of the consultation on proposed changes at Dulverton Junior School, please refer to the Statutory Proposal document available at the bottom of the page.

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