Green light for new sixth form block at Forest Bridge School

The Royal Borough has approved proposals to extend a special educational needs school in Braywick Park, with the additional building to be dedicated to sixth form pupils.

Forest Bridge School, in Braywick Road, Maidenhead, is an academy for children between the ages of four to 16 years old who have a primary diagnosis of autism.

The school specifically tailors to pupils who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), a document that identifies a child’s need for extra educational support.

Now, the school wants to add a separate building for up to 24 sixth form students and 30 members of staff, taking the total number of students in the school to 146 and 174 staff members.

The number of borough pupils with EHCPs has increased from 759 in January 2015 to 1,205 in 2025, according to a special circumstances report submitted by Edgingtons Architects, on behalf of Forest Bridge.

The report said: “Demand for Education, Health and Care Plans is expected to continue rising. The number of EHCPs could rise to 1,776 by January 2031.

“Forest Bridge School opened in September 2015 [and] since then, no new special school places have been provided in the borough.

“Children and young people are being educated away from their home communities and can have long travel times to and from school.”

The new sixth form block will address this rise in demand for pupils that are not prepared to move on to full time employment or mainstream college placements after the age of 16.

It will include a social space, classrooms, a small group room for the new students, two calm rooms and an office space for teachers.

Each classroom will be designed to accommodate eight pupils during teaching.

The main school entrance and existing car park, with 159 parking spaces, will be retained.

Although the school is located on the borough’s greenbelt, a design and access statement submitted by Edgingtons Architects as part of the application said the development will have ‘limited to no impact’ on the green space.

The council’s planning officer’s report also said that the benefits of the scheme ‘clearly outweighed the harms’ to the greenbelt because there is an identified need for the provision of a sixth form.

A sixth form tailored to children with special educational needs will also address the Royal Borough’s SEND Strategy for 2022-27 that looks to provide access to full time education for more post 16 pupils with EHCPs.

Search 25/00086/FULL in the council's planning portal for more information.