Big changes at High Wycombe primary school: ‘Desperately needed’

Monday, 2 October 2023 07:00

By Charlie Smith - Local Democracy Reporter

Plans for a new special needs unit for 12 children at a High Wycombe primary school have been approved.

Buckinghamshire Council has received planning permission to build the Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) unit at Juniper Hill School.

The Flackwell Heath school will also get a new intervention room under the plans, which were given the green light at the West Buckinghamshire Area Planning Committee this week.

The new unit, to be located at the rear of the school, will be a rectangular single-storey detached building with a pitched roof and its own entrance and play area.

Green glazed bricks will be used at the entrance and the proposed windows will be light green aluminium.

The design of the proposed intervention room near the school’s existing entrance will match the main school building and be used by all of the school’s 420 pupils.

Two “specialist teachers” will be employed to serve the SEMH unit, alongside learning support assistants and other specialists.

Local councillor Katrina Wood told the Committee meeting: “These facilities are desperately needed.

“I would probably question whether one in the south and one in the north is sufficient. Anything we can assist to bring this forward is a good thing.”