**OUR EXPERIENCE IN DELIVERING SEND SCHOOLS**
Helping every child reach their full potential is so important.
This is especially key when it comes to designing and delivering buildings for children and young people with special education needs or disabilities (SEND).
To transform these environments, requires a level of trust that enables the candid conversations which will allow true innovation to take place, and start us on the journey to secure improved outcomes for every young person with SEND.
So, in 2019, we embarked upon a journey of discovery committed to exploring how the process involved in creating buildings and estates that enable children and young people to truly thrive and reach their potential can be optimised.
From these we released a paper titled Building Better Futures which led to further research and development to create the SEND Blueprint for Success - a DfE endorsed document that helps anyone embarking upon the design and delivery of a SEND school.
Learn more here
Lexden Springs School | £18.8mColchester, Essex
Lexden Springs School is a SEND school with accompanying boarding residences.
Delivered in partnership with Essex County Council, this major relocation scheme has increased the school capacity from 120 to 200 young people. The school includes specialist classrooms, sensory rooms and a hydrotherapy pool as well as a new 30-place residential accommodation village.
During the project the team used 360 degree cameras and virtual reality headsets and were able to take pupils into the building as it grew, creating an immersive experience ahead of the school moving in, which ended up as a pioneering research study by the National Foundation for Education Research (NFER).
This experience has been wonderful for us and our pupils who got to visit site regularly. Morgan Sindall Construction are clearly committed and passionate about building the best infrastructure for our very deserving special pupils.
Architect | CLTHPM | Pick EverardC&S | Rossi LongMEP | JS&H
Summerdown School | £16.1mEastbourne, East Sussex
Summerdown SEN School was desperately needed; Eastbourne has a higher-than-average number of children with special education needs and there were more students than there were available spaces.
Procured through the Department for Education, Morgan Sindall Construction was awarded the £16m school contract and the journey began using MySchool design principles.
The school is formed of steel frame construction and brick facades over single and double storey. Internal features include specialist classrooms, sensory room, soft playroom and hydrotherapy pool. Externally we provided a multi-use games area, external play equipment and a wildlife habitat learning space.
Opening a brand new school building could have been very difficult and challenging but instead this was an incredibly positive experience. I cannot recommend Morgan Sindall highly enough, quite simply we couldn’t have asked for any more.
Architect | Pozzoni LLPPM | AECOMC&S | Elliott Wood PartnershipMEP | Couch Perry Wilkes
Glenwood School | £15.4mIpswich, Suffolk
Glenwood School is a brand new replacement SEND school in South Essex.
Procured through the Essex County Council framework, the 210-place school for 3-19 year olds is a two-storey timber framed building with 26 spacious classrooms, a hydrotherapy pool and specialist facilities to help meet the young people's sensory needs.
The team also created independent living areas within the school to help students prepare for adult hood and an immersive room that uses projection imagery.
During the project, the team raised money for Glenwood and managed to secure enough to provide much needed equipment in the school.
The team were fabulous in becoming part of Glenwood - you could feel they had a real passion. They really listened to our feedback but also got to know our young people, understanding the importance if how much difference it would make to their lives.
Architect | CLTHPM | Pick EverardC&S | SwecoMEP | JS&H
Freemantles School | £13.5mWoking, Surrey
Demand for SEN places is extremely high across Surrey, with over 11,000 children having an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) at the end of 2020 - a 49% increase in just four years.
The building now under construction will link to the pre-existing school and replace three temporary classroom blocks which are currently being used by both secondary and further education pupils.
The new building provides new teaching and learning environments including creative arts, common room & a gym, along with a large car park featuring EV charging points. The project also includes creating a fenced multi use games arena (MUGA) and two small, enclosed playing fields.
The school has been expanding for a number of years and the new facilities that this fabulous new building will offer will ensure that we can continue to provide an excellent specialist educational offer to more children and young people into the future.
Due to complete Q3 2023
Architect | Bond BryanPM | PellingsC&S | Campbell ReithMEP | Hawden
Chapel Green School | £13mOld Buckenham, Norfolk
Chapel Green School is a brand new 110 place SEND school on a greenfield site.
To double the existing Chapel Road School’s capacity, Norfolk County Council embarked upon a journey to create an incredible new facility in Attleborough.
The two-storey facility includes a specialist hydrotherapy pool, sensory rooms and a large external play area designed especially for the needs of the school.
Its 14 classrooms are carefully crafted to enable flexible teaching and learning enabling them to meet their motto of ‘ensuring the best for every child that comes through the door.’ Throughout the project, the team held numerous site tours and engagement sessions with the pupils to help with excitement and transition across to their new school.
The transition of our children into the new school was completely seamless. The building allowed this to happen. It was well planned and well organised and the children feel at home here which is absolutely fantastic.
Architect | NPSPM | NPSC&S | NPSMEP | NPS
Trent View College | £11.2mScunthorpe
Delivered in partnership with Wellspring Academy Trust, Trent View College is an area special school for pupils post-16 pupils with Special Educational Needs.
The building will be single storey with level access throughout and is zoned into two distinct areas. The school will include a hydrotherapy pool, changing facilities and a playing field all of which will be made available for use by the local community outside of school hours.
The passivhaus design focuses on energy efficiency, thermal comfort and air quality to minimise heat losses from the building.
The outcome is a sustainable, contemporary, exemplary school ready to serve the community.
As a Trust, we strongly believe in supporting the entire communities in which our schools are based, so we're really pleased that Morgan Sindall are focusing on using local SME suppliers.
New SEN School
Hydrotherapy pool
Shared playing field for community use
Passivhaus design
Architect | HLM Architects PM | GleedsC&S | Curtins MEP | CPW
Salmon's Brook School | £9.8mLondon Borough of Enfield
Salmon's Brook is a new build school with sixth form, for 70 students aged 11 - 18 with social, emotion and mental health (SEMH) - the first of its kind in the Borough.
Procured through the DfE, the school provides a suitable environment for a high level of therapeutic support and excellent teaching spaces. Students safe guarding is a key design element, resulting in the need for single storey only accommodation and a dedicated and managed secure student drop off.
The layout revolves around a central courtyard heart, allowing daylight and air to penetrate the circulation spaces and allow passive supervision. The classrooms utilise pitched roofs that discourage anti-social behaviour and allow environmental benefits. Each classroom has access to a ‘calm room’ to allow children to retreat when required.
By using a therapeutic ‘student-centred’ learning experience that focuses on the specific needs of the young person, we hope to develop self-esteem and help our young people build secure and trusting relationships that will help them navigate through life.
Architect | HaverstockPM | GleedsC&S | Roltons Group
Ramsden Hall Academy | £9.8mBillericay, Essex
Delivered under the DfE's national framework, Ramsden Hall Academy is a brand new teaching block and boarding accommodation block for.
The school is a school catering for Social Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) specialist needs.
During the project the team had to construct the new facilities in areas o semi-woodland and therefore the programme wads carefully sequenced to avoid breeding and hibernation seasons, helped with collaboration with Natural England.
The project was designed from RIBA stage 1 including the planning application process.
The new buildings have transformed the experience that our younger pupils and the residential children have at school. Morgan Sindall worked with us to engage the pupils and that led to a real sense of ownership - the boys are proud of their new buildings!
Architect | Pick EverardPM | MaceC&S | Pick EverardMEP | Pick Everard
The Bridge School | £9.3mIpswich, Suffolk
The Bridge School is a special education needs and disabilities school in Ipswich.
The major redevelopment includes a new state-of-the-art school and demolition of the existing secondary school to create an immersive external space.
The building houses a hydrotherapy pool and two sensory needs rooms, as well as music, food tech and art rooms. It is located on the same site as the existing primary helping pupils with a smooth transition between primary and secondary. By bringing the cut and fill exercise into the enabling package, we were able to get more lorries onto site without affecting the school. Using SIPS as the structure, the team managed to save six weeks on the programme.
This school is top of the range! Without question there isn't a better school than this in terms of the building and its facilities. It's a really important community facility. The children love it and everyone seems really happy.
Architect | ConcertusPM | ConcertusC&S | ConcertusMEP | Concertus
Sir Peter Hall SEMH School | £7.3mBury St Edmunds
Sir Peter Hall SEMH School involved the construction of a brand new 80 place school for pupils with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs.
The new school houses primary and secondary school students and was delivered on a live site, surrounded by residential estates. Careful neighbourhood engagement and logistics management was deployed throughout to ensure we minimised the impact of any works on the community that surrounded the site.
During the programme the team saved 261 tonnes of carbon through the re-use of sub soil on site, implementing electric travel plans, connection of mains units to electric and through the use of an electric arc furnace in the production of the steelwork for the frame.
The improved services these buildings will be able to provide will be very much welcomed by Suffolk residents, improving lives for many people. They are a real testament to what collaborative working can achieve.”
Springwell School | £6.6mSouthampton, Hampshire
Springwell School is a primary school for children aged 4-11 years with complex learning difficulties.
The school caters for children with a severe level of learning difficulties and many have associated disabilities such as autism, speech and language disorders and challenging behaviour.
The project provides an additional 2200m2 of accommodation; comprising the construction of a new two storey education facility containing classrooms, health, sports and community facilities (dining hall), offices, storage facilities, toilet facilities and support rooms. Including associated parking and landscaping which also comprised of and all weather sports pitch for the children to extend their outdoor learning.
Without doubt Morgan Sindall has been of the highest quality and one of our best partnerships with an external contractor. They have been really responsive to the needs of the children and it has been a very positive experience.
Architect | HGPPM | Faithful + GouldC&S | Scott White & HookinsMEP | CEI
Oak Lodge SEN School | £6.4mLondon Borough of Barnet
The new build expansion to Oak Lodge SEN School provides 35 additional SEN places. It includes eight new classrooms, PE hall, therapy rooms, admin block, music room, and meeting rooms.
Works also included a canopy walkway linking the existing school to the new build, as well as refurbishment of the existing gym to a new dinning hall. This involved refurb of the existing gym floor and swapping the changing rooms round so the girls changing room could access the existing therapy pool.
The school remained fully functional during construction, and the retention of the car park significantly reduced the site area. All deliveries were arranged outside of normal school hours due to sensitivity of the pupils.
The whole school community has been very excited to see this wonderful new structure take shape. Oak Lodge first opened in 1916 and this building is a fitting celebration of our first 100 years of special education."
Architect | CapitaPM | CapitaC&S | CapitaMEP | Capita
Glenwood Boarding Residences | £4.4mBenfleet, Essex
A new residential facility for pupils with SEND at Glenwood School in Essex.
Delivered through the Essex County Council framework, Morgan Sindall returned to Glenwood School (a brand new SEND school built previously) to construct two single-storey residential blocks that provided 20 boarding places for pupils.
The project included the demolition of the former school with buildings then constructed using traditional masonry so they look just like bungalow-houses, providing a sense of familiarity and 'going home' feel for pupils. While staying at the residential accommodation pupils will be able to learn valuable life skills and how to share social and residential spaces with others, plus support them to develop positive relationships.
The residential space at Glenwood will perfectly complement the school's existing facilities and provide an important space to develop social skills. This is a fantastic addition to the school and I look forward to seeing the completed build.
Architect | ConcertusPM | Pick EverardC&S | ConcertusMEP | Concertus
Cedar Hall SEND School | £4.3mThundersley, Essex
Cedar Hall is a specialist SEN school in Essex, with this project delivered under the Essex County Council framework to expend the existing facilities.
As part of Morgan Sindall’s Intelligent Solutions approach, modern methods of construction (MMC) were used throughout the project. This includes the use of Structured Insulated Panels (SIPs) as a key aspect of the new two-storey building’s construction.
The new development includes a two-storey main building complete with admin space, five classrooms, art room, library and a vehicle maintenance workshop to support the current curriculum. A large proportion of the works was carried out during holidays and outside of school hours, so that the children were not disturbed.
This is a fantastic £4 million investment into the school that will go on to improve the education of pupils for many years to come. I was very impressed with the design and quality of the build so far.
On time and budget
£1.8 million social value
44/45 CCS score
100% waste recycled
326 pupils inspired
£910 charitable donations
15 volunteer hours
Essex CC Framework
Two storey extension
Live SEN school
SIPS panels
EPC A* rating
Maes Ebbw Special School | £2.5mNewport
Maes Ebbw Special School involved the construction of a new single storey extension to the existing school.
The 7 class base extension is a flat roofed single storey structure with pitched roof pods that allow additional daylighting and ventilation into the classrooms.
Working on a live site, with an existing SEN school our methodology was tailored to provide a low impact presence, reducing behavioural triggers. Teachers were provided with radios so they could pause works if needed. The team met with Touch Therapy before the project to obtain help with the specialist design features. Outcomes included a touch therapy base, additional M&E systems to serve special lighting and audio systems on the sensory classrooms.
The team were excellent. They were very helpful through the life of the project and communication was excellent with the school. They fully considered the schools operational needs - without doubt we would recommend Morgan Sindall.
Architect | HLMPM | Newport NorseC&S | WSPMEP | WSP
Shepherds Down School | £1.4mWinchester, Hampshire
Shepherds Down School in Winchester is an existing SEN school at which we refurbished their existing dining room and extended their teaching facilities.
The scheme was delivered under the SCF framework and involved refurbishment on the live site and a new classroom block to create two classrooms, a therapy room, quiet room and toilets.
The only access and egress to the school was via the car park and deliveries were restricted heavily to just twice a day to minimise the impact on the students. This was carefully scheduled around the busy pick up and drop off times so that the school could keep operations normal at their key times throughout the day.
You delivered the project, from pre-construction to completion, on a very sensitive site in a very competent manner. You handed over on time and went beyond expectations to deliver, including last minute instructions!
On time
In budget
10/10 satisfaction
9/10 quality
10/10 commercial
10/10 safety
SCF framework
Live SEND school
Refurb of dining hall
Two new classrooms
Therapy rooms
External landscaping
Architect | Hampshire CCPM | Hampshire CCC&S | Hampshire CCMEP | Hampshire CC
