We are delighted to have been selected as the sponsor for a brand new special school located near Towcester for children and young people between the ages of 4 and 18 with autism and Severe Learning Difficulties. The school is set to open its doors in September 2025.
Located at the former St John’s Centre in Tiffield, which was previously used by the council for children and family services, the three-storey building will be specifically designed to create an optimal learning environment for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN), and Severe Learning Difficulties (SLD). The school will feature general and practical teaching spaces, a lift for upper-floor access, calm rooms, intervention rooms, and group rooms. Two halls will be provided for physical activities, music, drama and assembly spaces. Classrooms for younger pupils will be located close to sensory rooms, and two dining spaces will be provided for groups of pupils.
We will use this page to keep you updated with progress. The page is in chronological order, so please scroll down to see the latest updates.
Selection process for a sponsor
Following a thorough selection process by West Northamptonshire Council, Greenwood Academies Trust was chosen as the sponsor for the school, reflecting our dedication to providing high quality education and support for children with special needs.
We currently sponsor 37 academies across the East Midlands and East of England, including Purple Oaks Academy in Northampton, which opened as a specialist free school for pupils with autism and/or Severe Learning Difficulties in 2017.
Planning approval
The unanimous approval by West Northamptonshire Council’s planning committee on Tuesday 23rd January 2024 marked a positive step forward in addressing the increasing demand for specialist placements in West Northamptonshire.
Building works start
Leading construction firm Wilmott Dixon are underway with the development of Tiffield Academy. We commemorated the occasion on Friday 15th March 2024 with a ground-breaking ceremony where stakeholders came together to mark the start of the project, which will take shape over the next 18 months.
We joined Cllr Fiona Baker, Cabinet Member for Children, Families, Education and Skills at West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) and representatives from Wilmott Dixon.
You can read more here.
Staff recruitment
We have now successfully appointed a Principal for Tiffield Academy. Further vacancies will be published here in due course.
Progress photographs (30/08/24)
Section 10 consultation
Opening of new special school in Tiffield for pupils aged 4-19
Greenwood Academies Trust (GAT) is pleased to confirm that it has been approved by West Northamptonshire Council and the Department for Education (DfE) as the sponsor for a brand-new special school. The school is planned to open in September 2025, for children aged four to 19, who are on the autistic spectrum and / or have severe learning difficulties.
The new school will accommodate 230 children and will be based on St John’s Road, Tiffield NN12 8AA. It is being built using modern methods of construction by Willmott Dixon. The ground works and construction are already well underway to build a school which will deliver much needed specialist facilities.
The new school will be named Tiffield Academy and is due to open its doors from September 2025. It will initially open with 142 places and then build to its full capacity of 230. All places will be allocated by West Northamptonshire Council.
Greenwood Academies Trust is comprised of 37 other academies looking after over 19,000 pupils. The Trust is excited about working to develop the Tiffield Academy as an excellent provider of education for young people but also an important hub within the Tiffield area.
Academies are state-funded schools, they are independent from Local Authorities but are accountable to the Government, which provides free education in the local community. Funding to run the academy is on the same basis as other schools and comes directly from the Government. In order for a new academy to open, Greenwood Academies Trust must enter into a Funding Agreement with the Secretary of State for Education, but we have to consult stakeholders on this and gain their agreement.
We would therefore like to invite you to show your support for this exciting new project. The consultation begins on Monday 7 October 2024 and ends at 5.00pm Monday 25 November 2024.
Please can you contribute to the consultation by completing the form, before the deadline set out above, which can be found here: https://forms.office.com/e/7paczFey5y or alternatively scan the QR code below:
The outcome of the consultation will also be published on this website.
We are very excited about the opening this new special school as it will provide much needed specialist places for children and young people across Northampton and surrounding area. As part of this, we really welcome your support.
Section 10 consultation report
The statutory consultation ran for a period of six weeks from Monday 7 October 2024 and ended at 5.00pm Monday 25 November 2024. Therefore, it is now closed.
The report below summarises the findings of the S10 public consultation in relation to Greenwood Academies Trust (GAT) opening the new Free Special School and entering into a Funding Agreement with the Department for Education.
Tiffield S10 Consultation Report
External links
Work starts on the new special school located in Towcester | West Northamptonshire Council (westnorthants.gov.uk)
Planning for Tiffield special school gets the green light | West Northamptonshire Council (westnorthants.gov.uk)