Ivel Valley School is a

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

special school Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...

, located in

Biggleswade Biggleswade ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Central Bedfordshire in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the River Ivel, 11 miles (18 km) south-east of Bedford. Its population was 16,551 in the 2011 United Kingdom census, and its es ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The school accepts pupils from all over the

Central Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. It was created in 2009. Formation Central Bedfordshire was created on 1 April 2009 as part of a structural reform of local government in Bedfor ...

area, and was opened in September 2010 on the site of Sunnyside School.

History

Sunnyside School and Hitchmead School were two separate schools for children with different levels of

special education Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...

al needs. In June 2009,

Central Bedfordshire Council Central Bedfordshire Council is the local authority for the Central Bedfordshire unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. It was created from the merger of Mid Bedfordshire and South Bedfordshire District Councils ...

launched a consultation on the future of special education provision in the district. The consultation included a proposal to merge the two schools. This was due to Sunnyside School having more pupils attending than the school buildings were designed for, while Hitchmead School had a falling roll call, which has fallen from 87 pupils to 51 in the previous five years. In December 2009, Central Bedfordshire Council confirmed that a new combined special school would open on the current site of Sunnyside School in September 2010, with most pupils from Sunnyside and Hitchmead Schools transferring to the new school.

The school today

The new school formally opened in September 2010 with the name of Ivel Valley School. Various modifications were made to the school site to accommodate the new range of pupils, while the old Hitchmead School site is still used for some educational activities by the school's pupils. The school is currently for pupils between the ages of 3 and 19 years of age, whose

al needs fall predominantly within the categories of Severe or Moderate Learning Difficulties. Some pupils may have additional medical, physical or sensory impairments or emotional and behavioural difficulties. All pupils attending the school will have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). Following a reorganisation of the school, and additional classrooms being installed, in summer 2018 most pupils between 3 and 16 are now based on the Hitchmead Road site (the School site) and those between 16 and 19 are based at The Baulk (the College site). Some pupils are based in satellite classes at Biggleswade Academy.

References

{{authority control Special schools in Central Bedfordshire District Educational institutions established in 2010 2010 establishments in England Community schools in Central Bedfordshire District