PLANS for a new special needs school (SEN) in Wimborne have been unveiled.

A planning application has been submitted to Dorset Council for the school, at Farrs House, in Cowgrove Road.

The plans have been submitted by Tanner & Tilley Planning Consultants on behalf of Arc Schools Ltd, which said the facility could see around 25 staff onsite ‘on any given day’.

It said ‘most students’ at the school would ‘have a diagnosis of an Autistic Spectrum Condition’ and as such, would work to a ‘curriculum endorsed by the Mindfulness in Schools Association’.

“The school will not have big loud break times, as most of our students are very noise sensitive,” the application said.

“Some may walk the grounds with adult supervision, others will take part in mindful activities in class (colouring, listening to music etc).”

Arc Schools currently runs a primary school and the facility at Farrs House would allow existing students ‘to graduate as age permits’, the plan said.

“The school will teach a range of subjects that you would expect to see in a mainstream school, as well as having therapeutic sessions,” the application went on.

It would admit students from the Dorset, BCP and Hampshire Council areas with education, health care plans.

“These are students who have a documented need for support that would not usually be found in a mainstream school,” the plan said.

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“That means that the school will have a higher ratio of adults to children, often one adult for every four students.”

School times would be between 8.45am and 3pm, the plan outlines, with some limited clubs running until 4pm.

The property itself would remain ‘identical to the existing arrangement’, the plan said, except for the addition of fencing and a gateway added ‘for security’.

“The school requires a specific set of premises to meet their requirements and the premises of Farrs House are ideally suited,” the application added.

For more details, and to comment on the scheme, log on to dorsetcouncil.gov.uk and search for application reference P/FUL/2023/04041.