Council chiefs have given the green light to the expansion of a school in Kensal Rise for children with special educational needs.

Manor School in Chamberlayne Road, will be able to offer an additional 44 places once the £2.2million project is complete.

A grant of £1.5m from the Education Funding Agency will be used to fund a majority of the project, which involves building an extension and re-modelling part of the existing school to create extra classrooms, offices and covered external all-weather play areas.

The remaining cost of the project will be met by Brent Council.

The expansion programme was drawn up to help meet an increase in demand for special school places in Brent and the recognition that generally children are best educated close to their home rather than travelling out of the borough.

In addition to improving educational outcomes, the expansion will also save the council as much as £1million a year - which is spent on educatiing children outside of the borough.

The proposals were approved at a council meeting yesterday.

Cllr Ruth Moher, Brent Council’s cabinet member for children and young people, said: “The expansion of Manor School will not only help to meet the demand for places there, it will also make a huge difference to the lives of children with special educational needs and their families.

“As part of Manor School, children with special educational needs will stay part of the local educational community, with more pupils benefiting from Manor’s high standards. It makes sense financially too.”

The school which is rated ‘Good’ by education watchdog Ofsted will see its capacity rise from 132 to 176 pupils when the expansion project ends in September next year.

Related link: £2m expansion for school in Kensal Rise will deliver 44 extra places