School leaders at Berwick Academy have revealed their deep frustration at a delay in the delivery of a unit for pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

The school says it was at the request of Northumberland County Council that it agreed to launch an early SEND provision years ahead of its planned 2028 permanent build to help alleviate the critical shortage of specialist places in the area.

The local authority committed to delivering and handing over fully operational temporary modular facilities in time for the start of the new academic year.

However, the school has expressed its disappointment after council officers informed management that the handover has been pushed back until late September at the earliest.

The council says the delay is due to an “issue with the power supply outside of our control”, but interim accommodation has been made available to the school.

Kelly Holbrook, headteacher at Berwick Academy, said: “We agreed to open this provision early to support local families and back the local authority out of a crisis.

“To be informed at the final hour that the local authority’s contractor has missed the deadline – and then be asked to ‘find space’ on an already full site with two additional new year groups from the middle school closures already – is completely unacceptable.

“Our primary duty is to safety, quality education and the statutory support these children deserve. We will not compromise standard school operations or squeeze vulnerable pupils into inadequate, temporary workarounds because the council failed to manage its infrastructure delivery.

“The local authority created this deficit and they must immediately fund and deliver a proper contingency solution.”

The school leadership team has formally responded to the council asking for a fully-resourced interim solution for affected families.

Roy Jobson, chair of the trust, added: “I have written directly to Coun Guy Renner-Thompson, cabinet member for children and young people, regarding this deplorable situation.

“The local authority’s failure to deliver this basic infrastructure on time completely lets down our children, their parents and our hard-working teaching staff.”

Berwick Academy officially became a comprehensive 11-18 provider earlier this month as part of the reorganising of the education system in the Berwick Partnership from three-tier to two-tier.

A county council spokesperson said: “We share the Academy’s disappointment that the additional modular accommodation has not been completed to the original timetable.

“The delay relates to an issue with the power supply outside of our control and we are working closely with the contractor to resolve this as quickly as possible.

“However, interim accommodation has been made available to the school, including two classrooms in the Eden building, which the Academy acknowledged would help resolve some of the immediate space pressures at the start of term.

“The council has commissioned 13 places within the new Specialist Support Base at Berwick Academy, bringing much-needed additional SEND provision to the north of the county.

“Our priority is to work constructively with the Academy to support the children and families affected, get the additional accommodation operational as soon as possible and continue with the significant investment in permanent SEND facilities as part of the new Berwick Academy.”