The County Council has a statutory duty to provide sufficient school places for all children including those with special educational needs.

Increasing demand for places for children with significant needs has been identified due to the existing provisions being at capacity along with a lack of provision for pupils in Reception and Key Stage 1.

We are working alongside Suffolk County Council to develop additional specialist education places in one of our schools.

Wells Hall will be offering 12 places for children in Reception and Key Stage 1 with communication and interaction needs.

Places will be offered as part of a dedicated class, with specially trained staff. The funding for capital works to our school is being provided by Suffolk County Council.

These places will be in addition to the school’s current PAN (Planned Admission Number). This means that there will not be a reduction in the number of places available in the usual admissions round. Allocation of specialist places will follow a separate admissions process and will be for pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan.

Under the Department for Education’s Making Significant Changes to an Open Academy guidance, multi-academy trusts must consult with their community when proposing to make significant changes to the operation of an open academy.

Unity Schools Partnership and Wells Hall Primary School now want to hear the views of its stakeholders on this significant change proposal.

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Consultation Question:

If you would like to take part in the consultation, please answer the question below with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and add any additional comments you may have.

Do you support the schools’ plans to create specialist provision for pupils with particular special educational needs?

Please return your response to the school or you can write to Specialist Provision Consultation, Unity Schools Partnership, Homefield Road, Haverhill CB9 8QP or email specialistprovision@unitysp.co.uk.

Please note the deadline for consultation responses is Friday 4 April 2025.

A week-long series of activity sessions held at a Suffolk primary school have been hailed a success after more than 700 local children took part.

Pupils at Wells Hall Primary School in Great Cornard enjoyed everything from archery to karate on their grounds last week.

Other neighbouring schools were also invited to participate in the fun while the school praised the support of partner groups.

Headteacher Ros Towns said: “Our activity week gives children a taster of so many sports, some of which they wouldn’t have tried before.

“We wanted to show them that sport can be for everyone and the importance of leading healthy and active lifestyles.

“The activity week was a huge success, led by our Head of PE Josh Smith, and with the support of so many fantastic groups in and around our local community.”

Activities held during the week included a climbing wall, axe throwing, orienteering, dance, badminton, fencing and many more.

In total, more than 700 children, from seven different schools, took part in 25 different activities during the week.

The school also provided a signposting leaflet promoting all the various sports groups in their area to give children a chance to continue with sport beyond the activity week.

Wells Hall wanted to thank all the community groups who organised sessions and Active Suffolk, Explore Outdoor, Abbeycroft Leisure and Babergh and Mid Suffolk district councils for their support of the week.

Megan Felton, Project Officer for Children and Young People at Active Suffolk, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have been involved with helping to support Active Week at Wells Hall Primary School.

“At Active Suffolk, our aim is to provide many opportunities for all across the county to engage in accessible and enjoyable physical activity. Active Week at Wells Hall is a perfect example of the kinds of projects that we love to support. 

“We look forward to continuing to work with Wells Hall Primary School to continue on this work and other schools just like them to further support their young people’s physical, mental and emotional health through physical activity.”