Westminster Report

BY Rt Hon Mark Francois, Member of Parliament for Rayleigh and Wickford.
PLANNING Permission Granted for Rochford District’s First Ever SEN School!
Over the last few years, I’ve met an increasing number of parents in my constituency whose children have special educational needs (SEN) but couldn’t secure a suitable school place because South Essex’s SEN schools were effectively full up.
I’ve seen their frustration firsthand- with some parents in tears at my constituency surgeries, desperate for solutions. That’s why, in July 2023, during Education Questions in Parliament, I launched a campaign to build the first-ever SEN school in the Rochford District.
With strong support from Essex County Council, and in particular their Cabinet Member for Education, Cllr Tony Ball, we identified a site on the Wolsey Park development in Rawreth and secured core funding from the Department for Education, bolstered by developer Section 106 contributions, to build such a school.
In addition, since launching this campaign, I’ve been on a learning journey to better understand SEN education and what makes a school truly effective for these pupils. As part of this, I visited two outstanding Essex special schools: Pioneer Special School in Basildon and Kingsdown Special School in Southend.
At Pioneer, the Headteacher showed me their specialist facilities, including a hydro pool, sensory room, and an innovative ‘interpretation room’ for immersive learning. The wide corridors and rooftop hoists, designed for pupils with mobility challenges, were particularly impressive.
Similarly, at Kingsdown, guided by the Head and joined by Rayleigh Town Councillor Cheryl Roe, I saw the thoughtful design and dedication that make these schools so effective. These visits have been invaluable, and I’m deeply grateful to both schools for their time. Their insights are shaping our plans to ensure the new SEN school in Rayleigh meets the highest standards of design and care.
The consultation we launched over a year ago for a 100-pupil school at Wolsey Park received overwhelming support, with over 95% of the local community backing the plan. However, many respondents also urged us to be more ambitious, given the high demand for SEN places.
Last month, Essex County Council’s Planning Committee approved plans for a two-storey, 150-pupil school on the Wolsey Park site, just off Rawreth Lane, opposite Makro. I’m delighted to share that this will be a world-class school, equipped with state-of-the-art facilities like a hydro pool and specialist equipment to meet pupils’ diverse needs. Construction is now set to begin before Christmas, or early next year at the latest, with the school opening its doors in spring 2027.
The plan has also evolved, following the consultation, to include an annexe for over 100 additional pupils at the former Chetwood Primary School site in South Woodham Ferrers. While we await planning permission for Chetwood, if approved, it could open roughly a year after Wolsey Park, expanding our capacity to over 250 places, across both sites.
The Zenith Education Trust, which runs the highly regarded Castledon School and College for SEN pupils in Wickford, will operate the new school. Led by CEO Andy Hodgkinson, a highly successful former headteacher at Sweyne Park School, Zenith brings a wealth of expertise. To address concerns about traffic from Wolsey Park residents, Zenith will stagger pupil arrival times, a strategy that’s worked well at Castledon and likely contributed to the unanimous approval of the planning application, in September.
Applications for Wolsey Park will be managed by Essex County Council, with details on how parents can apply for eligible children released in due course. Wolsey Park will serve Key Stages 1 & 2 (primary) and early years, while the Chetwood annexe will cater to Key Stages 3 & 4 (secondary).
While this new school and annexe won’t eliminate the entire SEN waiting list, they’ll make a significant dent. By providing local places for Rochford District children, we’ll also ease pressure on nearby SEN schools like Castledon, Glenwood (Benfleet), Pioneer, (Basildon), and Kingsdown and St. Christopher’s in Southend. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved so far, and I’m committed to seeing this through to deliver a brighter future for our children with special educational needs, and their families.
Picture: Andy Hodgkinson, Zenith chief executive, Mark Francois MP, Coun Tony Ball from Essex County Council at the new school site.
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