Stockton-on-Tees Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision Sufficiency Statement 2026 to 2029
How will we know if we have got it right?
Our sufficiency focus for 2026 to 2027 is increasing capacity within mainstream settings through whole school and inclusive approaches to enable children and young people to learn alongside their peers in mainstream settings.
Where evidence shows needs can be met effectively within specialist resourced provision, currently known as Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Additionally Resourced Provisions (ARP) units, which would enable children and young people to attend school in their local community alongside their peers (as an alternative to out of area or high-cost independent provision) we will work to develop this. We will focus on our developing this provision, where there is a need within our schools who have falling rolls and capacity within their buildings. This approach allows capital investment to be targeted, timely and cost effective, while avoiding reliance on new build solutions where suitable accommodation already exists.
We will refresh our projections each year and will expect to see success reflected through:
- an increase in the number of local specialist bases
- an increase in the number of children and young people educated in mainstream schools
- a reduction in independent out of area education places
- a reduction in children and young people requiring education other than school provision
