A PROVISIONAL opening date for a new special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) school in Salisbury has been announced.

The new school is due to open in September 2023. On a temporary basis it will initially be in part of Pembroke Park Primary School and the current site of Springfields in the South at Sarum Academy before moving to its permanent site at South Wiltshire University Technical College (UTC) on Wilton Road later that autumn.

The Salisbury Academy for Inspirational Learning (SAIL) school will be part of the Reach South Academy Trust, which is working in partnership with the Department for Education and Wiltshire Council to ensure the new school is ready to open by September next year.

Dean Ashton, the chief executive at Reach South Academy Trust, said: “We are delighted that the provisional opening date has been agreed. This is a major step for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities in Wiltshire.

"We are looking forward to consulting with parents and young people in the area about the school that will meet their needs. We will, with our partners, establish a governing body for the school and start the process of appointing a headteacher and team and ensure that everyone is fully prepared for the new school to open in September 2023."

The SEND free school will create 150 new places for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). It will accommodate pupils with a diagnosis or primary need of autism (ASD) or social, emotional or mental health needs (SEMH).

Planning permission for the school’s permanent site on Wilton Road was also successfully granted over the summer, with the formal signing of the refurbishment contract with Tilbury Douglas as the next key stage towards the school opening at the permanent site in autumn 2023.

The building work needed for the school to open in its permanent site is scheduled to be completed in the autumn of 2023.

The refurbishment of the permanent site encountered some unexpected delays following surveys of the site, which showed further additional refurbishment works would be needed, delaying the planned opening by a few months.

The announcement of the provisional opening date means that consultations for children and young people for places at the new school can now get under way.

To make sure that enough spaces are available in the interim, the SAIL project team worked together to provide an alternative site at Pembroke Park. SAIL will deliver the new school from Pembroke Park and Sarum until the permanent site is ready to open.

Cllr Jane Davies, Cabinet Member for SEND said: “This SEND free school project is an exciting development to ensure our young people with SEND in the south of Wiltshire have first class facilities and the right learning environment to do well and enjoy school.

"I am delighted we have the green light from the DfE to now go ahead and start preparing for next September and creating these additional places. "SAIL will open to pupils initially on the Pembroke Park site and then move to the permanent home. We will work alongside DfE and Reach South to ensure a smooth transition to the new site once it’s ready.”