Hillingdon Council has announced the successful completion of significant enhancements at Ruislip Gardens Primary School, aimed at better supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
These improvements underscore the council’s dedication to providing young residents with healthy lives and exceptional educational opportunities. The project has introduced new inclusive facilities, adding 32 additional school places specifically for children with SEND.
Last Friday (June 21), Cllr Susan O’Brien, Hillingdon Council’s Cabinet Member for Children, Families, and Education, alongside Cllr Jonathan Bianco, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Property, Highways, and Transport, visited Ruislip Gardens Primary School to tour the new bespoke specialist resource provision (SRP) and the borough’s first assessment centre for children aged three to five.
The SRP is designed to offer tailored support for 16 primary-aged children with autistic spectrum conditions. These children will benefit from both specialised assistance and the opportunity to participate in mainstream classes.
Additionally, the new assessment centre provides 16 full-time places (or 32 part-time) for nursery-age children facing severe developmental delays and other complex needs. Each child will receive personalised support and may remain at the centre until transitioning to reception.
Spread across two floors within the existing school building, the new facilities include group therapy and sensory rooms, SRP and assessment centre classrooms, accessible toilets, storage areas, and a kitchen.
Cllr O’Brien said: “We want to make sure that every child or young person has access to a high quality education near their home and community.
“As part of our commitment to creating thriving, healthy households, our school improvement and expansion programme is delivering much-needed additional school places in the borough for our children with SEND.
“It’s important we meet the demand for this specialist provision quickly, and it’s required us to carefully examine how spaces at our schools are used, identifying buildings that can be adapted, expanded or repurposed. It’s wonderful to now see these coming to life and children starting to benefit from them.”
