Liverpool City Council approves landmark project to boost special educational needs 

Liverpool City Council is to deliver a visionary new SEND school and become a ‘net zero in operation primary school’ built around a unique village community vision.

The new Princes Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) School in Dovecot will offer state-of-the-art learning and therapeutic environments purpose-built for children with diverse and complex needs and who have been given an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). The project is backed by £37m of investment and provides 250 SEND places.

Ridge and Partners LLP were appointed as consultants to design the scheme through to RIBA stage 3 (planning) and currently remain as design advisors to LCC. An open and competitive process to select the main contractor is currently ongoing.

The project responds to the urgent need to replace the school’s ageing estate with Princes SEND School, currently operating across four sites that, while safe, are reaching the end of their functional life and cannot adequately meet pupils’ growing, complex needs. 

This follows the £10m regeneration of Bank View School in Speke in December, which increased additional SEND places. 

In Liverpool, pupils with an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) rose by 50% between 2020 and 2024.

The approved scheme will consolidate provision into a single, modern campus adjacent to Colwell Road in Tuebrook, with facilities designed to future-proof education and care. The campus will host specialist spaces, including hydrotherapy pools, with opportunities for the wider SEND community to access certain facilities outside school hours to keep in line with its community-minded design. 

As the facilities will be net zero in operation, this will mean cutting operational carbon emissions while improving comfort and resilience for pupils and staff. The new school is expected to open by the 2029 academic year, following completion of construction and commissioning.

Councillor Jo Kennedy, Cabinet Member for Employment, Educational Attainment and Skills, said: 

“This is a transformative moment for inclusive education in Liverpool. By delivering our first Net Zero in operation school, we’re investing in world-class environments that put children and families at the heart of a sustainable future.

“Princes SEND School’s ‘village community’ concept brings education, therapy, and family support together in one place. Now that we have planning approval we’re ready to move quickly and get spades in the ground.

“I also want to reassure parents and carers that we remain committed to making improvements to the current Princes School buildings whilst they remain in use.”

Pete Hawkins, Chair of Governors at Princes School, said:

“They say it takes a village to raise a child, but for our families, their village is getting smaller. Their children may not be able to do the same activities as children at mainstream schools, and they don’t have the same opportunities to socialise. We want to create a place where they feel they belong.”

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