Stockton-on-Tees Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Market Position Statement 2025 to 2026

Independent special schools - out of area

Some children will always need specialist schools outside Stockton-on-Tees but we want more children to learn in our local area. This means creating more places and support in the Borough so children can stay closer to home.

Inclusive Mainstream Practice

We will work with nurseries, primary schools, secondary schools, and colleges to use our Inclusive Education Framework. This will help more children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) learn alongside their friends in mainstream classrooms.

ARP and SEND Units

We will work with our schools to embed our Additional Resource Provision (ARP) and SEND Units so that children and young people receive support that meets their needs closer to home. We will focus on increasing our secondary ARP and SEND Units.

Alternative Provision

We will put in place our tiered model of Alterative Provision. This means giving schools, children and young people earlier support to help them stay in mainstream school.

We will work with providers, using  our commissioning framework, to make sure that children who are at risk of exclusion or who need more specialist support receive good quality education.

Pathway Development Centres

We will refresh our Pathway Development Centres. These centres help children early, before problems get worse. They will support pupils with social, emotional, and mental health needs (SEMH) and SEND.

Emotional Based School Avoidance

Some children and young people are not able to attend school due to significant anxiety. We will pilot a new type of provision for these children and young people to give them a good quality education and ensure we are compliant with our section 19 statutory duties. This will include:

• early identification of needs
• mental health support from skilled and teaching staff
• long-term placement for up to 20 children with the most complex needs

Post-16 Options

We want more choices for young people after age 16. We will:

• increase supported internships with local employers, colleges, and specialist providers
• offer more apprenticeships, vocational training, and work experience opportunities