£6.3m Plan Approved For New SEND School Site In Worthing

Plans to create a new specialist school site for children with additional needs in Worthing have been approved by West Sussex County Council.

A total of £6.3 million will be used to develop a satellite site for Palatine Primary School, helping to increase capacity for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

The proposal involves using the current Lyndhurst Infant School site, which is set to become vacant after merging with Chesswood Junior School to form Homefield Primary School.

Pupils are expected to move to the Chesswood site in September 2027.

Once vacated, the Lyndhurst site will be remodelled to provide 75 specialist places – including 34 places transferred from Palatine and 41 additional new places.

The move is designed to ease pressure on the main Palatine site in Durrington, reducing overcrowding while increasing overall capacity across both locations to 262 places.

Plans include new classrooms, group learning spaces, a sensory room, calming areas, dining and PE facilities, as well as outdoor play space.

A public consultation held last year showed strong support for the scheme, with more than 90% of respondents backing the proposal.

Statutory notices will now be published outlining the plans, with further design work expected to follow if the project progresses.

If approved, the new satellite site could be ready to open by September 2028.