PLANS to expand a Solihull school for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities look to be given the go ahead.
Reynalds Cross School has put forward proposals to increase intake by 30 places from January 2028 and revamp The Link – a space for 20 students with a primary need of Severe Learning Difficulty (SLD).
Councillors sitting on the Children and Education Decision Committee are set to discuss the matter at a meeting on Monday (June 15).
In documents released ahead of the meeting officers advise the committee approve plans subject to planning approval being achieved by mid-August 2026.
The document reported a site analysis of the main school building identified restrictions in the flow around the school corridors, classroom spaces and deemed them unsuitable to accommodate complex students with externalised behaviours and a requirement for further investment within the range of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) resources to support in the management of student behaviours and the ability to meet need.
And The Link has been identified as as being “end of life” and no longer economical for repair and has to under to daily safety checks.
The report noted: “Any proposal to remedy these structural issues through planned capital works should be considered alongside the need to expand places. “Feasibility works have identified that we can create space for the 20 displaced students from The Link building, and an additional 30 places to meet additional demand from a growing SEND cohort.”
The number of children and young people with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) is on the rise and it is predicted this will continue over the next seven years.
The SEND sufficiency plan revealed in January 2025, there were 2,503 children and young people with an EHCP – an increase of nearly 44 per cent over the last five years.
Although the number of special school places has also been increasing year on year, demand for places is still higher than the places available, with some children having to travel outside of Solihull for a place.
The officers report added: “The additional places created will allow for the 20 equivalent place displaced students to be accommodated on the same site with the additional 30 expansion places allowing the Council to meet its statutory duty to provide sufficient school places for its local authority area.”
