Issue - meetings
Didcot Valley Park Special School - Education Specification and Approval to Start LA Presumption Process
Meeting: 17/03/2026 - Delegated Decisions by Cabinet Member for Children and Young People (Item 32)
Report by Director of Children’s Services (CMDCEYP6)
The Cabinet Member is RECOMMENDED to:
a. Approve the specification for the new special school serving the
Didcot area, and for a competitive process to be launched to identify
an academy sponsor to run the school.
Additional documents:
- Annex 1 - DIDCOT COMMUNITY SPECIAL SCHOOL SPECIFICATION DRAFT FOR CONSULTATION, item 32
PDF 1 MB
- Annex 2 - Children at Community Special Schools Open, item 32
PDF 908 KB
Minutes:
The Cabinet Member considered a report which indicated Oxfordshire’s Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND) Sufficiency Delivery Strategy identified the need for two new special schools in the south-east of Oxfordshire, one for children with Social, Emotional & Mental Health and/or Autism Spectrum Disorder (SEMH/ASD) needs, and one for children with Profound & Multiple Learning Difficulties (PMLD) or Severe Learning Difficulties (SLD), and other associated needs.
Oxfordshire County Council would not run either of the new schools. The 2011 Education Act requires that all new schools are expected to be academies/free schools. This law meant that they are not run by the county council except in exceptional circumstances. Instead, academies were run by independent academy trusts.
Didcot currently had no special schools. The nearest maintained community special schools (primarily educating children with PMLD/SLD needs) were in Abingdon and Wantage. This meant children and young people with SEND faced long journeys to access suitable education provision.
Resolved to:
a. Approve the specification for the new special school serving the
Didcot area, and for a competitive process to be launched to identify an academy sponsor to run the school.
.