Council continues investment in inclusive education
Friday 17 October 2025: Hillingdon Council has completed the first phase of a significant expansion project at Meadow High School which will see the creation of 98 new places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), helping them to thrive in a nurturing learning environment.
Cllr Susan O'Brien, Hillingdon Council's Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education, and Cllr Jonathan Bianco, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Corporate Services and Property, visited both sites yesterday (Thursday 16 October).
New classrooms and specialist teaching spaces, including science, music, food technology, fitness, sensory, hygiene, therapy, medical and quiet study rooms, replace the previous temporary modular classrooms at Royal Lane.
This part of the expansion has delivered eight new places and reprovided 82, with work completed in time for the start of the current new school year.
The second phase of the expansion project is the creation of the school's new teaching building and satellite school at Northwood Road, which replaces an unused residential block.
The new build will provide 90 additional places and increase the council's ability to accommodate growing numbers of students with SEND.
The school will feature six classrooms, including science, food technology, art, independent living, and speech and language rooms, as well as a library/common room.
There will also be a space for physiotherapy sessions, a fitness room, hygiene rooms, medical facilities, kitchen and dining areas, a conference room, staff area, breakout spaces, storage, administration facilities and toilets.
Additional features include an eco-roof and solar panels to provide renewable energy, a new multi-use games area, car parking and cycle parking spaces and revised vehicle access. Where possible, materials from the former site will be reused or recycled as part of the council's commitment to being carbon neutral by 2030.
Cllr O'Brien said: "We continue to deliver on our pledge to provide children in Hillingdon with a high quality and fully inclusive education. This includes creating more school places for children with SEND, helping them to reach their full potential in a supportive learning environment."
Cllr Bianco added: "Our school improvement and expansion programme is delivering excellent facilities across the borough, and our continued investment locally will help reduce the council's reliance on expensive independent special school places."
Headteacher Graham Cunningham said: "We were delighted that at the start of term we could welcome students back and into our new, state-of-the-art facility. It will enable us to provide an appropriate learning environment to match the needs of the individuals we're privileged enough to be educating."
