A NEW school to support children with special needs is to be built in St Helens.

At a special meeting of St Helens Council's Education Committee, councillors agreed to create a flagship resource supported by two other centres of excellence. The new centre will incorporate the latest in special needs education techniques and practices.

The decision follows a major consultation exercise with parents, teachers and governors to make further improvements in special needs education.

Currently, about 1,600 children with special needs are catered for in the borough and the authority plans to introduce a five-year action plan to meet the changing needs of the schools and their pupils.

The strategy includes merging both the Hamblett and Hurst Schools on one new site with provision for 150 children aged from three to 16 with special needs. Penkford and Mill Green schools will become special needs centres of excellence providing "cutting edge services for children with complex needs." The consultation surrounded suggestions made in recent OFSTED reports to find ways of improving special schools buildings and increasing the number of special needs children in mainstream schools in line with national trends.

Chairman of Education, Councillor Andy Bowden, said: "The strategy builds on good practices in special needs already made by the council and will enable the authority to reduce the number of out-of-borough placements by providing specialist services locally."

Bob Brownlow, hadteacher at Hamblett School, commented: "I believe that the parents and staff from Hamblett School are committed to working together with the council and the LEA to create something very special in St Helens -- a brand new purpose-built special school that will build on the outstanding work of the Hamblett and Hurst schools to become a centre of excellence for children with special educational needs."