SEMH Consultation
As many of you will have seen in the paper, schools across the country are responding to growing numbers of children requiring additional needs and support.
This is being seen at Radcliffe Primary School, so we have been in discussions with the Local Authority for some time looking at how we can further meet the needs of these children, while strengthening what we do across the whole school.
That is why we are writing to you to ask for your views on us developing a specialist Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) Unit for children aged 4–11 within the school.
I appreciate that this is an important proposal, so I wanted to take some time to outline what we are proposing and what this will mean.
The proposal
The new Specialist SEMH Unit will ultimately provide education for up to 20 pupils aged 4–11 years with identified Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs. In practice, these needs range from anxiety and school avoidance to children who struggle to maintain positive relationships.
Proposing establishing this Unit is something that we have thought long and hard about. The reasons are:
- Due to the declining birth rate, we have spare classrooms in the school. This is because we currently welcome 30 Reception children each year, rather than the 60 the school is built for.
- Because of this spare capacity, we are already redesigning the school. We are, for example, already investing in moving and upgrading our Reception classroom and playing area.
- That still means, however, we are paying to maintain a large space in the school that has no pupils in it. Not only will the Unit bring more funding into the school, but we will also be able to use our existing funding more effectively. As a result, we will be able to invest more in the education and facilities our existing children receive.
Above all else though, the needs of our children and other children in the local area are changing – and we want to better respond to that.
What will the Unit be like?
The Unit will have its own separate entrance, toilets, outdoor play provision and the curriculum will be taught in a very different way. There will also be some different therapeutic approaches to help children learn to understand themselves and each other.
The Unit will also have staff who work solely in the Unit who have specialist expertise and training.
The Unit will be built slowly, first welcoming five children in January 2027 until it gradually reaches 20 children. In addition, funding will be provided for up to four permanently excluded pupils in the future. These children will be selected based on the fact that they had a specific SEMH need that hadn’t been identified/managed in their previous school.
What will be the impact on the wider school?
This is something that we have thought long and hard about. There is a great deal for us to be proud of at Radcliffe, and we do not want to do anything that will disrupt the strength of the school.
The reasons we would like to proceed are:
- As stated, we will have a specialist team of experts working directly in the Unit. While the majority of their time will be directed to supporting the students in the Unit, we will be able to draw upon their skills to support lower-level need across the main school.
- We already have children in the school who would benefit from one of the places in the Unit. This gives us an opportunity to better meet their needs.
- We will be able to use our facilities and funding so we have greater ability to continue to invest in all aspects of school life.
In addition, morally, if we have parts of our school that are empty and we are using public money to maintain – then it is only right that we look at how best we can further support our community.
It is also important to note that:
- The children in the Unit will largely be taught in the Unit. However, we also need to prepare them for life in the future, so there will be occasions where they integrate with the wider school. In addition, if a child flourishes and is ready to be in the main part of the school, then we will facilitate and support that if they are ready.
- While the numbers in the Unit are small, there is likely to be a slightly different start and end time to the day – so school won’t feel busier.
Tell us your thoughts
Before the proposal progresses, we want to give our parents, carers and wider school community the opportunity to understand the plans, ask questions and tell us what they think.
We are therefore launching a consultation on the proposed specialist SEMH provision.
The consultation will run from today to Friday October 2nd 2026 at 17:00. You can share your views by completing the online feedback form linked below.
We recognise that parents and carers may have questions about what the proposal could mean for their children and for the school as a whole. Your views are important to us, and all feedback received during the consultation will be carefully considered before the next steps are agreed.
Many thanks,
Mrs Walsh
