Morland Primary School in Ipswich opens new SEND unit

On Monday, Morland Primary School in Morland Road opened its new SEND unit which can cater for up to 18 students.

Headteacher John Crane emphasised his delight over the opening of the unit and sees it as a much needer step in the right direction.

Morland Primary School's Wren's class can cater for up to 18 students(Image: John Crane)

He said: "We're very excited to open this new unit which we call Wren's class.

"We know that Suffolk is not the best for special educational needs and the emotion for parents I'm seeing is relief - relief that they finally found an appropriate place for their child."

The unit is the first of its kind opened for schools run by the St Edmundsbury and Ipswich Diocese Multi Academy Trust.

Mr Crane added: "We're trying to be part of the solution and I think sometimes mainstream schools have got to step up especially when they've got the space.

The unit is the first opened by the trust(Image: John Crane)

The unit focuses on children across Key Stage One(Image: John Crane)

"Hopefully this won't be the last unit made, the trust is ambitious and they want more, but it's very important to us to actually provide for children with all needs."

Morland Primary School were chosen to be the first to receive a unit due to them having the capacity for more students.

Two classrooms were converted and turned into Wren's class instead of a new building been built.

Currently, the unit is home to 13 students from across Key Stage One with the expectation for it to rise to 18.

Mr Crane added: "This is a wonderful opportunity for us as a school because it's brought in expertise in the form of experience and trained staff which will support these children in mainstream schools."

Parents campaigned for better SEND provisions on the steps of Suffolk County Council(Image: Oli Picton)

This follows more than 100 new SEND places being confirmed for schools across Suffolk.

Parents campaigned on the steps of Suffolk County Council for better provisions for children with SEND which ultimately saw 113 new places granted.