A NEW free special school is searching for a site to establish itself on after it was given the go ahead to start today.

Following a rigorous application and assessment process, the proposal for the SGS School, a new free special school for South Gloucestershire was today approved by the Department for Education.

The Secretary of State has given permission today for the South Gloucestershire and Stroud Academy Trust to develop pre-opening plans to establish a brand new Free School for 80 boys and girls, aged four to 18 year olds with complex communication difficulties such as Autism.

The school is now looking to find a site for the school and will design the building before submitting a final proposal for approval by the Secretary of State approval. 

Kevin Hamblin, CEO of SGSAT said: “This news will allow the Trust, along with our partners including the local authority to take the first steps to design and plan for a new school and help dozens of children who currently are not supported in South Gloucestershire and for many that means having to travel out of the area to access appropriate provision.

“The school will focus on providing intensive support to about 80 children of all ages and will aim to support them into mainstream education when we feel they are confident enough.

“At the moment, the lack of suitable places in South Gloucestershire costs the local authority a considerable amount to buy provision in other areas - and more importantly children have to face long taxi or bus rides to access appropriate education services.”

Nick Timothy, Director of New Schools Network, said: “The application process to set up a free school is incredibly rigorous so it is a testament to the hard work of SGS Academy Trust that they have been approved to open.

“This latest announcement means the total number of free schools open or approved to open has now exceeded 440 which marks an incredible milestone.

“Free schools are proving increasingly popular with parents and are providing good new schools places for their local communities.”

The SGS Academy Trust was formed by South Gloucestershire and Stroud College in 2014 to support primary, secondary and special schools in the greater Gloucestershire area.

It is hoped that the school could be open as early as September 2017.