A new 54 place special education needs and disabilities (SEND) school has opened on the site of a former Felixstowe primary school.

Education provider Unity Schools Partnership has developed land that used to be occupied by Maidstone Primary School in Maidstone Road in Felixstowe to provide a second school for The Bridge School in Ipswich.

The Ipswich school, in Sprites Lane, provides education for 182 children aged between two and 16 with severe learning difficulties and its second school in Felixstowe has been funded as part of Suffolk County Council's £55million SEND Capital Programme.

READ MORE: Second The Bridge School being built in Felixstowe

The programme aims to provide hundreds of new education placements for SEND children.

In May, Tim Coulson, chief executive of Unity Schools Partnership, told this newspaper: “We are looking forward to opening a second building for The Bridge School in Maidstone Road, Felixstowe and will be offering 54 places for Key Stage 3 and 4 and, from 2025, sixth form students.”

Tim Coulson of Unity Schools PartnershipTim Coulson of Unity Schools Partnership (Image: Unity Schools Partnership)

The primary school ceased operations in 2022 to merge with nearby Causton Junior School and form the Seckford Education Trust (SET) Felix Primary School.

READ MORE: Empty Suffolk primary school could be used for SEND students

The newly-merged school of 310 pupils operates from Causton's premises, which meant the Maidstone site had been left empty.

In May, a county council spokesperson said: "Unity School’s Partnership will be delivering special educational needs places at the former Maidstone Primary School, as an additional site for The Bridge School in Ipswich."