Ealing families set for more SEND support close to home

beehiveweb.co.uk editorial team 2026-07-24 12:28 3 min read

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By the Beehive Web local news desk

More children with special educational needs and disabilities will be able to receive specialist support within mainstream schools in Ealing under a £2.25 million expansion approved by the council.

Up to 66 specialist school places are planned across Acton and Hanwell. The first places are expected to become available from September 2026, although the council’s wording indicates that provision may open in stages rather than all at once.

Dedicated learning spaces and support facilities will be created at Acton Gardens Primary School and Brentside High School. The aim is to give more pupils access to suitable education closer to home while keeping them connected to their local school community.

Ealing families set for more SEND support close to home

Specialist places at two Ealing schools

Acton Gardens Primary School will provide 36 of the new places. Ealing Council plans to invest approximately £1.25 million in specialist classrooms and supporting facilities at the school.

Brentside High School in Hanwell will gain another 30 places, backed by around £1 million of investment. Together, the two projects account for the full planned capacity of 66 places and combined spending of roughly £2.25 million.

The council has not yet published details about the needs covered by each provision, the admissions route or how many pupils will join the first intake. Those details will matter to families assessing whether either setting could meet a child’s individual support requirements.

Harsha Patel, headteacher at Acton Gardens Primary School, said the provision would allow the school to support more children locally while ensuring they remained included in school life. Brentside High School headteacher Charlotte Hames said its investment would support high-quality specialist provision without separating pupils from the wider school community.

Local provision could reduce longer journeys

For families, the practical benefit is the prospect of finding appropriate support within the borough. A suitable local place can keep a pupil connected to familiar surroundings and reduce the potential need to travel outside their community, although the council has not provided estimates for how many journeys or external placements could be avoided.

Councillor Blerina Hashani, cabinet member for a fairer start, said the expansion was intended to provide the right support at the right time while allowing children and young people to remain part of their community.

Ealing’s plans follow a consultation in which more than 90% of respondents supported the proposals at each school. Parents, school staff and other stakeholders took part, and no formal objections were received during the statutory consultation period.

Readers tracking similar school-based provision elsewhere can also examine Coventry’s plans for faster SEND support.

First places due from September

The council says the new places will start to become available in September 2026. It has not confirmed whether all construction and specialist facilities will be ready simultaneously or published a school-by-school opening schedule.

Alongside the two approved projects, the cabinet allocated a further £1.5 million of government funding to future SEND developments across Ealing. That separate allocation is intended for additional specialist provision, but no individual projects or delivery dates were identified in the announcement.

The next confirmed milestone is September 2026, when the first places at Acton Gardens Primary School and Brentside High School are due to become available.

Source: Ealing Council

Context & actions About this article

Source check Source trail

The place numbers, funding allocations, consultation response and opening timeline were checked against Ealing Council’s published account.

Checks

Confirmed that 36 places at Acton Gardens and 30 at Brentside total up to 66.
Confirmed approximately £1.25 million for Acton Gardens and £1 million for Brentside.
Checked that the first places are expected to become available from September 2026.
Confirmed support above 90% at both consultations and no formal statutory objections.

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