This blog will examine the enormous impact a new Special free school can have on pupils and the wider community and includes an exclusive interview with Dr Jonty Clark OBE, CEO of The Beckmead Trust.
The Impact of a new Special School on the Community
The DfE’s official Special school application process is underway and very soon proposers across the nation will begin writing their applications in a bid to sponsor a new Special free school in their chosen Local Authority (LA). For a comprehensive breakdown of what a free school is, please refer to our FAQ.
In the current wave of free school applications, the Department for Education said it would approve up to 60 Special and AP free schools to open from September 2025, creating around 4,500 places. The department’s pledge to boost much-needed places for the most vulnerable children in our society will see the creation of Special free schools where there is a clear demographic need for such, providing outstanding provision for some of our most vulnerable children and young people.
For any additional information surrounding this process, Create: Schools offers free support to applicants. If you have any questions or would like support writing your free school bid, please get in touch with our team of Create: Schools advisors here.
LA Benefits to the Community
The Special free school wave invites applicants to directly address unmet educational needs through highly bespoke and supportive schools. The wave system will create places for children with a variety of different social, emotional, educational, and medical requirements. The application serves as an opportunity for Local Authorities and MATs alike to collate hugely important research regarding the SEND demographics in their localities, and the ways in which children and young people with additional needs can be better supported by their communities.
Special free schools facilitate a much stronger sense of integration and support throughout communities, ensuring every child can access the support they need to become active citizens where they live. They enable needs to be met locally, eradicating the need for the high travel costs incurred when educating children out-of-county.
To find out which LAs were successful in their bids for new SEND provision, please visit our Live Bids page.
Interview with Dr Jonty Clark OBE, CEO of The Beckmead Trust
Create: Schools interviewed Dr Jonty Clark OBE, Chief Executive Officer of The Beckmead Trust, a successful proposer in the previous wave of the Special free school competition. Questions sought to delve further into a first-hand experience of the process and the impact the new Special school has had on its community.
When asked about top tips for engaging with the community, Dr Clark described the importance of a diversified approach to community engagement. This includes formal consultation, making a public commitment to the project and bettering the lives of the community’s young people. In addition to this, all levels of engagement should include representation of the trust itself, as well as local leadership. Dr Clark mentioned a general misunderstanding around what a Special school entails, citing that “most people don’t know what SEN means” with more people caring once they gain an understanding of what it is. To boost levels of public awareness, the CEO of The Beckmead Trust mentioned delivering personalised leaflets to the nearest 500 houses, complete with information about out of working day engagement events.
Do you have any advice for engagement when the community is not initially on board?
At times, the surrounding community may not be initially on board with the project, or not understand the implications of such. Dr Clark highlighted the effect of good signage around the site, when the site does become secure, keeping all external visible aspects of the site enables people to visualise what it will look like. Engagement events are an effective way of keeping members of the community updated and active participants in the process.
How has the new school actively impacted the community?
“We’re used to feeling like the bottom of the pile.” - Dr Clark described a situation where, when giving a tour of the new facility to prospective pupils, one child expressed his amazement with the quality of care and infrastructure available, stating that they were “used to feeling like the bottom of the pile.” A new Special free school directly addresses the needs of some of the most underrepresented and vulnerable children in our society, enabling them to access the quality, specialised education they deserve. The new Special school is described to have a culture of tolerance towards the children’s needs and a celebration of diversity throughout the community. Greater understanding and exposure allow for differences to be embraced, as opposed to penalised.
For any additional information surrounding this process, Create: Schools offers free support to applicants. If you have any questions or would like support writing your free school bid, please get in touch with our team of Create: Schools advisors here.