SEN centre to open at Cobham Hall Independent School in Gravesend early next year

A private school is set to take in students with special education needs (SEN in the new year.

A new autism centre is opening in Cobham Hall Independent School in Gravesend.

Called Bligh House, it will feature sensory rooms, quiet areas as well as swimming pool and sports hall facilities.

Specialist staff will teach pupils aged 11 to 16 with a primary diagnosis in smaller class sizes.

They will begin to be enrolled from January 2025 with a phased intake starting at 10 to eventually a capacity of 60.

Parents can now start registering their interest here.

The new centre is a collaboration between Mill Hill Education Group which runs 11 schools across the country and one internationally, and Chiltern Way Trust.

Earlier this month, Hilden Park School opened in Hildenborough.

It can educate 72 children between the ages of eight and 16 on the site of the former Fosse Bank School in Noble Tree Road.

A special opening ceremony was held with a ribbon cutting by Tonbridge MP Tom Tugendhat (Con).

Recently, KentOnline reported how Kent’s special educational needs crisis is deepening as huge demand continues to pressure the county council.

New figures reveal a single state pupil currently looked after in the private education sector costs nearly £50,000, which has helped create an in-year £46 million overspend.

KCC has already outlined a series of reforms designed to assign SEN pupils to mainstream schools and ways to reduce the £60 million and rising annual bill for home-to-school transport.