£37m landmark SEND school project gains planning approval

Liverpool City Council has approved a landmark project that will boost SEND support and become a ‘net zero in operation primary school’ built around a unique village community vision.

A major investment in inclusive education

The new Princes Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) School in Dovecot is backed by £37m of investment and aims to provide 250 SEND places. The aim is to offer state of the art learning and therapeutic environments purpose built for children with diverse and complex needs and who have been given an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

The council appointed Ridge and Partners LLP as consultants to design the scheme through to RIBA Stage 3 (planning), and the firm now continues to serve as LCC’s design advisor. An open and competitive process to select the main contractor is currently ongoing.

The project responds to the urgent need to replace the school’s ageing estate. Princes SEND School currently operates across four sites that, while safe, are reaching the end of their functional life. They cannot adequately meet pupils’ growing, complex needs.

Part of a wider expansion of SEND provision

This follows the £10m regeneration of Bank View School in Speke in December, which increased additional SEND places.

In Liverpool, pupils with an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) rose by 50 per cent between 2020 and 2024.

The approved scheme will consolidate provision into a single, modern campus adjacent to Colwell Road in Dovecot. It will have facilities designed to future proof education and care.

The Village community layout will see accessible, human scale buildings and shared social spaces that foster independence, belonging, and wellbeing.

As part of its community minded design, the campus will host specialist spaces. This includes hydrotherapy pools, with opportunities for the wider SEND community to access certain facilities outside school hours.

As the facilities will be net zero in operation, this will mean cutting operational carbon emissions while improving comfort and resilience for pupils and staff.

The new school aims to open by the 2029 academic year, once construction and commissioning are complete.

Voices behind the vision

Councillor Jo Kennedy, cabinet member for employment, educational attainment and skills, said:

“This is a transformative moment for inclusive education in Liverpool. By delivering our first Net Zero in operation school, we’re investing in world class environments that put children and families at the heart of a sustainable future.

“Princes SEND School’s ‘village community’ concept brings education, therapy, and family support together in one place. Now that we have planning approval we’re ready to move quickly and get spades in the ground.

“I also want to reassure parents and carers that we remain committed to making improvements to the current Princes School buildings whilst they remain in use.”

Pete Hawkins, chair of governors at Princes School, said:

“They say it takes a village to raise a child, but for our families, their village is getting smaller. Their children may not be able to do the same activities as children at mainstream schools, and they don’t have the same opportunities to socialise. We want to create a place where they feel they belong.”

Headteacher Col Hughes said:

“We’ve always built the curriculum around our pupils and their needs. Now we’ve been given a unique opportunity to do that at a whole-school level. We want to create something different that’s about our children and their families.

“I’ve always wanted to feel like we’re at the centre of a community, because that’s often missing as a special school. Now we’re becoming the centre of a much wider community than just ourselves, and that’s really exciting.”

Alice Parker, partner and education architecture lead at Ridge, said:

“As soon as they said the word ‘village’, my mindset as a designer changed. It wasn’t just a destination at the end of a street, it was about extending an open arm to the community.”