The expansion of a special needs school with 100 extra places could be given formal approval by council planners.
A planning application setting out proposals for the re-building of Broomfield South school in Belle Isle has been submitted. The project would see part of the Specialist Inclusive Learning Centre (SILC) demolished and replaced with a three-storey school building.
Leeds City Council hopes to secure permission for the scheme, which would cost up to £25m and provide extra school places in 2027.
A design report said the new building would contain a sports hall and therapy spaces for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). It said:
“Leeds has an ever-growing need for special educational needs places, and the shortfall of places is especially present in the south of the city.”
Pupil places at the school would be expanded to 280, requiring more teachers, therapists and support workers. The number of staff at the school would increase from the equivalent of 166 full-time roles to 210.
The project includes specialist teaching space, new play areas, mini-bus access and measures to tackle traffic congestion around the school. The report said:
“We want the project to give Broomfield South SILC a renewed life, where the education of its complex needs learners and the well-being of its staff are designed for and prioritised.
“A key aspiration for the project is to see the reorganisation of the site as an opportunity to improve the congestion issues that currently plague the site and its surrounding community.”
Broomfield was already providing more school places than intended in buildings which were too small and not up to modern SEND standards, the report said. It said:
“This on an undersized campus which was not designed for the complex needs of their current cohort.”
A satellite post-16 learning centre has already opened at White Rose Park to boost SEND places.
This post was written by Dom Mort, Local Democracy Reporter
Image: Norse Group architects
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