SAFFRON Walden County High School has been granted £2.45 million to build a new site for children with SEND (special educational needs).
A total of £2.69 million of section 106 funding – a type of financial contribution from developers to mitigate the impact of new homes - is available for secondary provision in Saffron Walden.
Essex County Council has decided to spend much of the cash on the new building, which will cater for 40 pupils with SEND, enabling the school to meet the demand and educational outcomes.
A statement said: “There is £2.69 million of section 106 funding available which must be spent on secondary provision in Saffron Walden.
“There is capacity on the Saffron Walden County High School (SWCHS) site and Essex County Council have met with the school to discuss how the funding could be used to complement and improve their offer for pupils with special educational needs in the school.
“There is no special school provision in Uttlesford and Saffron Walden County High School would like to increase their offer, both in terms of student numbers and the type of need they can accommodate.”
Recently published government data showing performance in 2023 to 2024 had Saffron County High recording the second highest attainment 8 scores - measuring student performance - among non-selective state schools in Essex with a score of 59.7.
The school had 66 per cent of English and maths GCSEs at Grade 5 or above.
An Ofsted report in 2024 rated the school outstanding, with a statement saying: "The school ensures that pupils achieve academic success and develop a wealth of cultural knowledge and understanding. All pupils benefit from an ambitious and challenging curriculum.
"Many pupils arrive having exceeded national expectations at primary school.
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"The school takes account of pupils’ different needs. The curriculum builds well on pupils’ previous learning, so pupils achieve highly."
Saffron Walden County High School receives around 600 applications for 300 Year 7 places each year.
In 2022 the furthest any child who was not offered a place because they had looked after status, who had a sibling there or whose parents worked there lived no more than 2.7miles away.
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