Cabot Learning Federation (CLF) has been invited by the Department for Education (DfE) to operate a new Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) Special School in North Somerset.
CLF is a mature multi-academy trust with a specific strategic focus and a proven track record of addressing disadvantage. With 19 academies and a mission to “consistently deliver excellent educational experiences for pupils aged 3-19, improving their life chances and serving the communities of which we are a member”, the CLF serves more than 11,000 children across North Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire.
Please review the information below about the proposed new SEMH Special School and provide your feedback in the Consultation Questionnaire provided. The consultation period ends on May 31.
The new CLF SEMH Special School proposal
The new CLF SEMH Special School will provide 65 places for children of both sexes aged 5-16 with a primary need of social, emotional and mental health.
In the first year of opening, from September 2022, the school will be based in temporary accommodation in Nailsea, North Somerset. There, it will initially provide approximately 20 places for children of both sexes in the age range 11-14. Subject to achieving the required planning consents, from September 2024, the school will move to new purpose-built accommodation in Churchill, North Somerset.
CLF propose to offer children across four key stages the opportunity to connect with and better understand themselves, their communities and the wider world.
The educational vision for the new CLF SEMH Special School is a focus on creative arts, artisanship and agriculture. Children engaging with the new CLF SEMH Special School will discover their talents within an individualised curriculum that focuses on developing strengths and building individual networks.
As a result, upon graduation, children will be able to benefit from and contribute to their immediate community because their education has enabled them to understand themselves and their connection to the world around them.
For a child to be admitted, the school must be named, by a local authority, in the child’s education health and care plan (EHCP), though the school will play a role in outreach and support for the wider educational community, supporting with assessment places on an individualised basis.
The new SEMH Special School will sit alongside CLF’s Snowdon Village (a multi-site alternative provision), which has more than ten years of expertise.
CLF formally appointed as operator of new SEMH Special School
