City of York Council's £4m plan to provide a brand new special educational needs (SEN) school for children of primary age has been backed by the government.

The council has been told this month by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) that its bid for the money for the new school on the current Hob Moor School site at Acomb, has been approved.

The new SEN building will be part of a wholesale re-development of the site which will also include a brand new 'mainstream' primary school funded out of £8.3m granted last year to upgrade or replace facilities at Hob Moor, St Oswald's Primary School at Fulford and St Barnabas' School in the Leeman Road area.

The new SEN school will provide places for 120 children and is being built as part of a city-wide modernisation of SEN services following a long-running review and consultation. The school will be built under a Private Finance Agreement which will include the running and maintenance of the school for the next 25 years.

Work is expected to start on the building of the new school in summer of 2004 with completion in 2005.

Councillor Janet Looker, the council's executive member for education, said, "This is excellent news for children and parents in York. We have been working hard to improve education for children in the city and this is a welcome step forward. The new school will be purpose-built and have modern facilities which will provide the right type of environment for our children's learning.

"The city council is absolutely committed to raising the standard of the learning environment in York's schools and this scheme is just part of a widespread, multi-million pound programme of improvements we have delivered or are seeking to deliver across the city over the last and next few years."

The council is also aiming to provide a brand new secondary SEN school following the review of SEN services which was demanded by falling rolls and changes in parental demands and expectations.

By September of next year the city's four existing SEN schools will close under the plan with an increased emphasis on inclusion in 'mainstream' schools.

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Notes for Editors: The city-wide SEN consultation began in 1999 and showed significant support for inclusion - giving children with special educational needs opportunities for full-time or partial attendance at mainstream schools Parents were increasingly asking for their children with SEN to be included in mainstream schools - a situation reflected in falling rolls with 383 pupils were in York's four special schools in 1996 and 292 pupils and falling by September of last year The two new schools will contain more provision for children with autism and will have better facilities than the current SEN schools.