A ten-week project has been completed in St Helens
Council Leader Anthony Burns (front left), Cllr Nova Charlton (front third from right) and Mill Green School Headteacher Sean Lenahan (front right) with pupils from the school(Image: Bernard Platt)
A £360,000 investment by St Helens Borough Council has resulted in 19 additional places at a school to support pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Prior to the new school term at Mill Green School, construction began on a modular building at the Parr-based premises, featuring four new classrooms as part of the council’s school improvement programme.
The project was completed within 10 weeks with senior councillors recently visited the new facility to witness the impact of the sensory-equipped classrooms on some of the borough’s most complex learners. Councillor Nova Charlton, cabinet member for children and young people, said: “I’m delighted to see the outcome of this project, which has resulted in four new classrooms being created to expand Mill Green School.
“In our borough, 20% of young people have SEND requirements. We’ve recognised this as a council, and that is why we’re expanding provision within the borough, following the approval of our SEND strategy, which was co-produced with our young people, parents, and families.
“As a council, our main priority is ensuring children and young people have the best possible start in life, and investments like this are concrete proof of that commitment.”
The Mill Green School scheme was one of several projects carried out by St Helens Borough Council at schools across the borough before the start of the new year, which also included outdoor classrooms, new boilers and roof replacements, totalling in the region of £600,000.
Mill Green School is an community Special School in St Helens, where individuals aged 14 to 19 with complex and severe multiple learning are valued (Image: Bernard Platt)
Councillor Richard McCauley, cabinet member for inclusive growth and regeneration, commended the council’s property services team who delivered the scheme.
He added: “This is testimony to officers in the council’s Property Services Team who have worked tirelessly to turn this project around in just ten weeks to ensure it was ready for use before the start of the new school year. The end result is fantastic, and it’s heartening to see what it means to the school and how it will help pupils thrive in a comfortable learning environment.”
Sean Lenahan, headteacher of Mill Green School, said: “This is fantastic provision for our most complex learners. It’s provided real, meaningful learning environments and purposeful spaces for our young people to learn in and it’s enabled us to accommodate an additional 19 young people that would have gone elsewhere, potentially out of the borough. So it’s really good for the young people, their families and for the local authority.”