Thanks to a new development, Freemantles School in Woking has helped boost the region’s special educational needs (SEN) provision.

Representatives from Surrey County Council (SCC), Freemantles School and Morgan Sindall Construction all gathered to open the new state-of-the-art school building on October 20.

The two-storey SEN school building was constructed on the existing school’s site by Morgan Sindall Construction. 

The new facility enables Freemantles School to have a separate secondary- and further-education building, allowing the school to continue with their expansion to 270 places with two forms of entry for students aged four to 19 years.  

The new building links to the pre-existing school and has replaced three temporary classroom blocks.

It includes specialist classrooms including a creative arts room, food technology kitchens as well as a sports hall. 

The new build will significantly help the council meet a growing demand for SEN student places in the county.  

There is a growing need for SEN places across Surrey, with 10,941 children from the region having an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) at the end of 2020 – a 49 per cent increase in just four years. 

Justin Price, executive headteacher at Freemantles, said: “Everyone who’s been involved in this project has done an amazing job and what we’ve got here now is fantastic.

“The creative arts space will be a highlight for the children, even creating a vocational space for further-education students.”