An East Cambridgeshire SEND school is set to get a new teaching wing after a planning application was given the green light. 

Highfield Littleport Academy, based in Littleport, is a SEND school for children aged between two and 19. It currently educates more than 140 pupils who have either behavioural problems, physical disabilities, sensory, communication or medical needs.

A planning application was submitted to East Cambridgeshire District Council seeking to build an extension at the school, as well as a pick-up and drop-off loop, vehicle parking, cycle parking and extra bin storage.

The extension will be a two-storey teaching wing which will provide the school with an additional 50 spaces for students, taking the capacity at the school to just under 200 pupils.

The Design and Access Statement in the planning documents reveals that the new building will accommodate both Key Stage Four pupils as well as Post 16 students, and give space to life skills and sensory rooms with ancillary and support accommodation.

A section of the statement reads: "Classrooms have been sized with the Academy to cater for pupils with a variety of needs, predominantly for ambulant pupils who will work to a main-stream curriculum, those with Moderate and Severe Learning Difficulties and those with Autism, class sizes are to be kept to 10 pupils."

A new pick-up and drop-off loop is also proposed for the school with the aim to ease congestion during the start and end of the school day. 

The Design and Access Statement reads: "It will be able to accommodate up to 20 taxis and minibuses during the drop-off and pick-up, and it will ease congestion backing up onto the existing highway."

East Cambridgeshire District Council approved the planning application on October 28, 2024, and construction will begin within the next three years.