TWO new units could be created for Court Fields School, Wellington, to accommodate pupils with a range of special educational needs.

One public consultation on the proposals has been held and a second is running until June 1 before the Blackdown Education Partnership (BEP), which runs the school, decides whether to seek Secretary of State approval.

One proposal is to convert a school bungalow to provide a small, specialist, nurturing environment for up to eight key stage three and four pupils who have education, health and care plans (EHCPs) with a need defined as social, emotional, and mental health (SEMH) difficulties with ‘internalising behaviours’.

The second is to transfer The Cove, a unit on the Court Fields site currently operated by Taunton’s Selworthy Special School, to make it an integrated special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) unit.

All of the 15 pupils attending The Cove would have EHCPs and would be on the Court Fields roll to bring staffing, safeguarding, inclusion, curriculum access, and pastoral systems fully under the school’s leadership.

Some of its pupils already split their learning between The Cove and Court Fields, and the unit would continue to operate as a specialist environment with its own small, structured learning base.

A BEP spokesperson said: “This proposal aims to strengthen local SEND provision, reduce travel distances for families, and reduce reliance on placements outside the Wellington locality.”

Consultation on The Cove integration closed in April, but feedback can still be given on the SEMH proposal until June 1.

The spokesperson said the Court Fields SEMH base would deliver a flexible, blended model including face-to-face teaching, supported access to mainstream lessons where appropriate, online learning, and use audio-visual technology to maintain engagement where needed.

They said: “The aim is to provide specialist provision on a mainstream site where pupils will have opportunities to access mainstream learning and facilities as part of a bespoke approach.

“Somerset Council’s SEND strategy highlights the need to reduce reliance on out-of-county and independent specialist placements and to grow local capacity for students with more complex needs.”

The spokesperson said there was a significant and growing number of youngsters with emotionally-based school non-attendance (EBSNA) and co-occurring anxiety or neurodivergent needs who required bespoke, small-scale, locality-based support.

They said: “This group of young people are typically characterised by a high level of anxiety, withdrawal, and avoidance, they can have complex mental health needs.”

A number were already supported by Court Fields, which had demonstrated improved outcomes through personalised packages, but, provision was limited and not sustainable at scale without a dedicated base.

Court Fields headteacher Polly Matthews said: “We are delighted our recent consultation on a proposed new SEND Unit at Court Fields School has already received strong positive feedback from the community.

“The proposal would create a nurturing, specialist provision for up to eight students with SEMH, internalising, needs, with an EHCP, building on the success of our Cove provision.

“This would establish two SEND units on site, strengthening our ability to support local students in line with national and Somerset priorities.”