Could a school specifically for neurodiverse children with mental health issues help?

The impact of the pandemic on children and young people has been a topic of much discussion over the last two years. Possible solutions to provide children who are particularly vulnerable to acute stress and who might develop mental health issues have been varied. From support hubs in schools, to increased training for staff. Now, a specialist school for autistic children and young people with anxiety and other mental health issues is set to open in Brighton.

Written by Bryony Porteous-Sebouhian

How did plans for the school come about?

Brighton and Hove City Council are being asked to approve plans for the school after an eight-week consultation, which was carried out between April and May of this year. The consultation found that 91% of respondents agreed on the need to support autistic children and young people who have anxiety and other mental health needs.

Local paper, The Argus reported on a committee report that said: “A significant number of these students are not currently accessing education or are placed in independent non-maintained special schools. By developing this provision, we will be increasing the attendance at school of vulnerable learners and be supporting them to attend school locally and within their own community.”

Where will the school be located and how will it be structured?

The school site will be based in Hollingdean, a district of Brighton. It will select pupils from the already existing Hill Park School in Portslade who are autistic and/or have mental health issues but not those with learning disabilities.

The Hollingdean site will be small, taking on only 30 pupils between the ages of 11 to 16. The idea behind the new school is that many of the pupils at Hill Park have only moderate learning disabilities that could allow them to access a more “mainstream education” as the Argus said.

However, being neurodiverse as well as struggling with anxiety and other mental health issues often means those children and young people would find secondary schools difficult to manoeuvre around as well as them being overstimulating, busy and intimidating.

As the number of young people being diagnosed with neurodiverse disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and ADHD increases, schools such as Hill Park in Brighton are beginning to struggle to provide space.

Hill Park themselves has seen an increase of 25% over the last two years and this demand is only continuing to increase

The report being put forward to Brighton and Hove Council’s committee on Monday the 13th of June has said of the new building in Hollingdean:

“The Cedar Centre building is mainly on one level, giving good access. A scheme has been designed for the Cedar Centre building, which includes complete refurbishment and re-modelling of the building, which will enable the building to meet the needs of pupils with ASD as their primary need.”

The committee is set to meet at Hove Town Hall on Monday the 13th of June at 4pm. If the plans go ahead, and the school proves beneficial to this group of children and young people who are in desperate need of extra and specialised support, the school might work as a framework and blueprint for other local authorities to invest in schools similar to this one.

Join us on the 30th of June for a webinar on 'Improving standards of delivery for neurodiverse people'.

You can find more details on tickets, prices and other webinar sessions here.