Elm Court School Expansion

Report on the consultation around the formal proposal to expand Elm Court Special School

This consultation took place between 21 November and 19 December 2025. The consultation was promoted via targeted emails, posters, flyers and letter drops in the local area. In addition, links to the online survey were promoted to those residents who have signed up to be notified about Council consultations. In total, 130 people responded to this consultation.

There is a high demand for places, so very needed

At present the school is running at capacity and a new site will benefit our pupils and give extra opportunities.

This is going to help so many children i am so proud of our school

I think its great to expand the Special School, But as a resident I don't see any plans for the proposed extension to Kings road School, As resident we would be supportive of Increasing the height of the build overlooking our residences, so its hard to comment in support when there are no details, even though we're supportive of the school itself.

I wrote last time and made error.. NOT supportive of height expansion. But supportive of school, hard to comment without plans.

I think it is a great idea and much needed places will become available

To enable Elm court school have the needed space to educate special education needs children in the community

As a parent of a child with SEN requirement I understand the need for additional places to support education needs in Lambeth. As a resident of Kings Avenue, I have concerns about the impact of;

a) the works required to update the Kings Avenue School premises and knock on effect on traffic in the area which is already heavy and

b) once open, how the additional traffic from parents or transport services dropping off and picking up pupils will be managed.

At certain times, traffic is exceptionally busy and dangerous. Parents and carers dropping off and picking up pupils from the nearby Iqra Primary school are using Kings Avenue to park, with school zone restrictions pushing vehicles to stop dangerously.

Concerns about pupils safety must be taken into consideration, especially considering Harris Academy secondary and sixth form buildings are nearby, with large numbers of pupils there too.

Proposals on traffic restrictions or further traffic calming measures must be considered and appropriately acted upon to protect all pupils and cause minimum disruptions to residents.

I support the proposal but subject to the introduction of a speed camera outside the school. I live opposite and motorbikes and delivery drivers on bikes speed between the speed bumps at scary speeds. This would be particularly dangerous for children, especially vulnerable children and children who will potentially be wearing noise cancelling headphones.

Local places for local children has to be the way forward and is in the best interest of families.

Something will need to be done about parking. It was a nightmare when the old school was still open. People would commonly block our driveway. I suspect that there will be more of a need to drive children to school if it is a special school, so this will only get worse.

We need more space and more classrooms and a workshop for bike maternity

We need more class room  and we need more playtime

more classrooms and school art gallery

i dont know

I,ve got a commENT I like to expand Elm Court School

I,m not so sure that I Wanna Be Part.

I think this is desperately needed to increase capacity for SEND children in Lambeth and those with EHCPs that recognise the need for alternative provision. Often these children deserve better than what most mainstream schools can provide.

It's a good school and should be cherished and supported

There is a huge need for increase in Special Schools. These young learners need the specialist help and we as a diverse community should support it.

It is v badly needed in Lambeth

Much needed. Current cohorts in primary school (particularly current KS1) have much level higher of need. Secondary schools need to respond to this now otherwise in a few years time children who need specialist provision won’t be able to secure it. These are children who are currently “coping” in primary mainstream but will need specialist for secondary. If specialist secondary provision is already at capacity, then how will they cope with these higher levels of SEND in a few years time?

It is important to help more inclusive learners progress and offer them a real possibility of an independent future.

As a local councillor I’m told by parents of the need for this. I very much support this.

I support the expansion of Elm Court. As a parent, I know how much the right setting matters, and there’s a clear need for more local SEND places. Elm Court provides steady, meaningful support, and giving more young people access to this is a good step. Using the Kings Avenue site for older pupils also makes sense and will improve space and facilities.

We need more space so we can do more stuff.

The Entire School needs more Capacity of the Amount of Pupils Throughout the Lambeth Community.

we need more space because we would like more activities like a RC workshop

Because we need more space

we need more space for the class room and playtime because not make the class room and playtime small

we need to move so we can do things we haven't got space for.

I think the school is too small and a good idea to make it bigger

Yes is good expand became we need more space.

I strongly support the proposal to expand Elm Court School. It is an amazing school that provides a truly exceptional education for children and young people with learning difficulties and associated social and communication needs, including many pupils with autism.

Special schools provide facilities for children to develop in a safe environment at their own pace with experienced teachers and carers.

The pupils at Elm Court and those who would like a place at Elm Court will greatly benefit from the expansion.

will be good to be able to support more children

I feel that the playground at the present location needs expanding, the nurture classes need more space for sensory and life skills facilities and the 6th form need more real life activities - café, work related spaces , enterprise. As a school we have so many pupils wanting to come and we need to be able to accommodate all the needs. Class sizes are too big and the capacity for the building has been reached. Our cohort is becoming more complex but we still cater for higher ability children as well so we need to build our spaces for all.

This is a great opportunity to be creative and expand areas for children to have real lifeskills experiences with rooms to role play and actively use to build appropriate opportunities for children with special needs to become and build more independence skills

The expansion will provide much needed extra space and opportunities for our pupils.

It is essential to continue to maintain high expectation for students with special educational needs.

Due to lack of space school being full capacity a new location for sixth form would be a blessing, they are the shining lights and need the support .

This is strongly needed by the community. Elm Court has a fantastic reputation and support network for SEN children and their families. The expansion would be a great investment in the community and raise the prospects for many young people

it will be excellent

Elm Court is one if not the best SEND school in Lambeth and the school has been running at full capacity for few years now. Unfortunately a number of students have to be turned down. Those numbers been increasing. Elm Court is in dire need of space/extension.

I strongly object to the proposed expansion of Elm Court Special School following the closure of the former site on Kings Avenue, which is a main arterial road with consistently high traffic levels.

Parking, access, and traffic problems already cause serious and ongoing harm to the wider local community. Due to the heavy traffic and limited stopping opportunities on Kings Avenue, vehicles associated with the school frequently divert into surrounding residential streets. This results in obstruction of pavements, roads, and residents’ private property, including driveways and access points, preventing residents from safely entering or leaving their homes. These impacts are widespread across the neighbourhood and cause significant distress and disruption.

The consolidation of provision from a busy main road such as Kings Avenue onto this residential site will materially increase vehicle movements in streets that are not designed to accommodate this level of traffic. Inadequate on-site parking provision has led to unsafe and inconsiderate parking on public highways and in front of private residential property, creating serious highway safety concerns for pedestrians, cyclists, and emergency vehicles.

The scale and intensity of the proposed expansion would result in an unacceptable loss of residential amenity through increased noise, congestion, and daily disruption. The closure of the Kings Avenue site has concentrated activity at Elm Court without sufficient mitigation, placing a disproportionate burden on this community and undermining residents’ quiet enjoyment of their homes and private property.

For these reasons, the proposal fails to adequately address parking demand, access, protection of private property, and highway safety, and should be refused unless robust, enforceable measures are put in place to safeguard the amenity, safety, and property rights of the local community.

None at this time

It will benefit the children in our community

I support the proposal to expand Elm Court Special School because there is a growing need for specialist provision for children with Special Educational Needs. Expanding the school will allow more children to receive the tailored education and support they require.

I am writing as a SEN teacher at Livity School, a SEND primary school that is part of the same federation as Elm Court School, to express my strong support for the proposed expansion.

Most, if not all pupils at Livity School transition to specialist SEN secondary provision, and as professionals we see first-hand the increasing pressure on local SEN secondary places. Despite careful transition planning, families often experience significant anxiety due to limited availability of suitable local provision.

Being part of the same federation, we have a clear understanding of Elm Court School’s inclusive ethos, high-quality specialist practice, and commitment to meeting the complex needs of pupils with SEND. The proposed expansion would strengthen continuity of provision across the federation, support smoother and more successful transitions from primary to secondary education, and enable more pupils to remain within their local community.

From a professional perspective, this expansion is a necessary and positive step in responding to the growing demand for specialist SEN provision. It will benefit pupils, families, and the wider SEND system by increasing capacity while maintaining high standards of care and education.

I fully support the proposed expansion of Elm Court School.

I welcome retaining the Kings Acre school site in Educational use. Once given up for residential use, such sites will be almost impossible to reclaim for public use.

Elm Court is currently over subscribed and having a second site would mean that more Lambeth children would be able to receive the support they need at this exceptional setting.