Construction work to start on new facilities for SEND students at Northumberland College's Kirkley Hall campus

Leah Charlton, Architect, Seymour Architecture; Coun Wayne Daley, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member responsible for Children's Services and Education and Skills at Northumberland County Council; Tom Crompton, Chair of the Northumberland Local Governing Board, Education Partnership North East; Vikkie Morton, Vice Principal Students Services & Registry, Education Partnership North East; 16-year-old Andrew Wilkinson, from Whitley Bay, who is a Foundation Learning student studying Skills for Working Life at Northumberland College; David Howells, Chief Operating Officer, Education Partnership North East; Ellen Thinnesen, Chief Executive, Education Partnership North East; Paul Young, Operations Manager, ENGIE; Paul Wharton, Project Manager, Hollis (back row) Cath McEvoy-Carr, Executive Director of Adult and Children’s Services, Northumberland County Council.

Northumberland College’s new centre for students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) has moved a little closer.

Energy services and regeneration specialist, ENGIE, has been confirmed as contractor and will now start construction work at the college’s Kirkley Hall campus, as part of a multi-million-pound investment plan.

It will be extending the Kielder Building to create an 800 metre square space over two floors at the heart of the campus which will be home to a sensory room, a modern and innovative life skills zone to allow students to develop their independence and an employability hub to support their progression.