About mainstream SEND hubs
In line with the council’s plans to increase the number of SEND and alternative provision places across Lincolnshire, as set out in the better belonging strategy, we intend to establish more SEND hubs in mainstream schools.
Our vision is to ensure that mainstream schools can offer a high-quality education in an inclusive and encouraging environment, where pupils can achieve the best outcomes possible, with access to a rich and wide curriculum.
For the majority of children and young people with SEND, being educated in a mainstream setting with enhanced support is the right type of education. We,in collaboration with a number of schools and academies, are developing this provision.
However, for mainstream schools to be able to meet the needs of all children and young people with SEND, we must ensure that they have the right facilities, resources and access to specialist SEND training.
The SEND hubs aim to provide children and young people with education, health, and care (EHC) plans access to quality teaching in their local school, fostering skills, independence, resilience, and readiness for their next stage of educational journey and adulthood, while promoting a sense of belonging in their community.
The hubs would be aimed at supporting children and young people with additional needs to be educated and have their needs met in a mainstream school with enhanced facilities by knowledgeable and skilled staff. The mainstream SEND hub will be part of the mainstream school, providing an enhanced educational offer for pupils with SEND in the mainstream setting.
The hubs will be for pupils with EHC plans and provide a level of provision between mainstream and special education.
Access to the SEND hub will be through the EHC needs assessment or annual review route, with identification and suitability assessment the responsibility of the SEND caseworker.
All pupils will be on the mainstream school roll and expected to be included regularly in events at the mainstream school, in accordance with individual need.
What the hub will look like
Every host school will have either one or two classrooms within the SEND hub, with a maximum of two classrooms per school. Each classroom has capacity for up to ten places commissioned by the local authority via the EHC plan route, along with up to three places available for the host school to utilise at their discretion.
SEND hubs are being collaboratively developed with each host school and therefore the offer may vary depending on school preference, capacity within the school and local demand.
As a minimum, all hubs will offer:
- a suitably sized classroom, within the school’s existing building
- direct access to a breakout space or sensory space to allow time for pupils to regulate and manage their feelings
- direct access to secure outside space to allow free-flow learning and opportunities for regulation outside of the classroom
Host schools will receive funding which covers the full costs of facilitating the SEND hubs, including the following staffing levels per classroom:
- one qualified teacher
- two teaching assistants
- one intervention worker
- enhanced leadership time
- enhanced SENDCo time
- additional midday supervisor time
- additional learning resources
The hub will belong to the school, and be managed and staffed by the school.
We will be funding all capital costs associated with the development of SEND hubs. Schools and academies will not be detrimentally impacted financially with the implementation of the hubs, nor will they impact the school’s ability or financial capacity to meet the needs of children and young people educated in the wider school.
We began opening SEND hubs from September 2025 and have hubs established at the following schools:
- The Church Lane Primary School, Sleaford
- Gonerby Hill Foot Church of England Primary School, Grantham
- Ermine Academy, Lincoln
- Castle Wood Academy, Gainsborough
- St Michael’s Church of England Primary School, Coningsby
- All Saints Church of England Primary School, Friskney
- Parish Church of England Primary School, Gainsborough
- The Meadows Primary School, Lincoln
- St George’s Church of England Primary School, Gainsborough
- Caistor Church of England and Methodist Primary School, Caistor
- The Gainsborough Academy, Gainsborough
Each school hosting a SEND hub receives an enhanced level of training and the offer of specialist expertise to meet the needs of pupils with SEND. This training has been developed by expertise from the local special school sector.
New SEND hub proposals
Lincolnshire County Council, in partnership with the following schools (and a number of academies who are carrying out their own consultations), is consulting the proposed development of further SEND hubs at:
- Sir Francis Hill Community Primary School, Lincoln
- Hawthorn Tree School, Boston
- Butterwick Pinchbeck Endowed Church of England Primary School, Boston
- The Edward Richardson Primary School, Tetford
- The Church Lane Primary School, Sleaford (hub number 2)
For more information on these proposals and how to contribute to the consultations, please follow the links below:
Proposed mainstream SEND hubs consultation – Tetford
Proposed mainstream SEND hubs consultation – Sleaford
Proposed mainstream SEND hubs consultation – Lincoln
Proposed mainstream SEND hubs consultation – Butterwick
Proposed mainstream SEND hubs consultation – Boston
Hartsholme Academy is also currently consulting on opening mainstream SEND hub.
Further academy consultations are expected to commence later this month.
For more information on the academy proposals, please visit the school websites directly.