Somerset Council is asking residents for their views on plans to create a new SEN unit at Hindhayes Infant School in Street from September 2026.

The proposed unit, at the Leigh Road infant school, would support six to eight local children with Education, Health and Care Plans whose needs cannot be fully met in a mainstream classroom.

The statutory consultation opened on Monday, 8 June 2026, and runs until 5 pm on Friday, 10 July 2026.

Somerset Council and the school's governing body say the change would help respond to the needs of children and young people living in the school's locality.

The proposed unit would use existing rooms on the school site which are not needed for mainstream teaching.

Specialist teachers would be employed by the school, alongside support staff, to run the unit.

The council says the places would be for children with social communication and emotional regulation needs who may otherwise struggle in a mainstream school setting.

Places would be allocated by Somerset Council's Statutory SEND service, in consultation with staff at the school.

Children placed in the unit would be local children from the Street area.

The council says school transport would be provided where children qualify under Somerset Council's published home-to-school transport policy.

Somerset Council says there is currently a shortfall of specialist education places in the county.

Most existing special schools, autism bases and SEN units are already full, according to the consultation document.

The council says this has meant it is having to buy high-cost placements from independent and non-maintained schools, which can require children to travel long distances from home.

Its stated ambition is to open a number of new SEN units around the county on mainstream school sites, allowing more children with SEN to attend schools closer to home.

An informal consultation was held in April and May with parents, carers and staff at Hindhayes Infant School.

There were ten responses, with five from parents and five from staff members.

Somerset Council says there was strong support for the proposal.

The Hindhayes plan is one of four current consultations on expanding specialist school places in Somerset.

The wider proposals include increasing specialist places at Holway Park Community Primary School in Taunton from 40 to 50 from September 2026.

At Oaklands Primary School in Yeovil, the council is proposing to expand the Oaklands Centre from 14 to 32 places from the 2027/28 academic year.

At Polden Bower School in Bridgwater, the plans include four new classrooms creating 32 extra places, as well as a satellite provision at Somerset Bridge Primary School creating 16 registered places.

Somerset Council says it wants to hear from pupils, parents, carers, staff members and local residents with an interest in the school.

Residents can support, object to or comment on the Hindhayes proposal through the Somerset Council consultation website.

Anyone needing more information before responding can email [email protected].

The council says feedback will be considered and shared with the school before a decision is taken in late July.

If the plan goes ahead, the SEN unit would open in the 2026/27 academic year, with pupils likely to be admitted from September 2026.

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A new SEN unit could be coming to Hindhayes Infant School in Street, with space for six to eight children. Helpful, yes — but plenty of local families will be looking at that number and quietly doing the maths.