Over £8.3m approved to relocate Elmfield Secondary School for Deaf Children in Bristol

There is positive news today for deaf children in the south-west of England with the news that Elmfield Secondary School for Deaf Children, in Bristol, is set to relocate to its own building after £8.363m in capital funding was agreed with Bristol City Council’s Children and Young People committee.

While Elmfield has its own primary school site, the school’s secondary provision is currently based within a nearby mainstream school, where the classrooms are no longer adequate for the growing number of pupils or their needs—all of whom are Deaf, with some also having additional needs.

The funding will enable the development of new and refurbished buildings that provide high-quality learning environments, specifically designed to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including the specialist acoustic requirements of Deaf students.

Early construction works at the new site are expected to be delivered by the end of 2025, with the new school set to open in 2026. The school currently has 29 students on roll, and this is expected to increase to 48 in the 25/26 academic year.

Elmfield School for Deaf Children is a bi-lingual, bi-cultural special school for children aged 3 to 16, teaching and learning in both spoken English and in British Sign Language. Elmfield School pupils come not only from Bristol, but from surrounding authorities, where there are no special schools for Deaf children.

Kate Persaud, Headteacher of Elmfield School for Deaf Children said: “We are overjoyed with the opportunity of opening a stand-alone secondary school for our students in 2026. To offer this provision has been a long-held wish of the school and its community. The new school will be comparable in standard to our incredible primary school on Sheridan Road which was opened in September 2023.”

Christine Townsend, Chair of the Children and Young People committee said: “I am delighted we’ve been able to take the project from exploring the idea to making a final decision so quickly over the last six months. One of the main reasons we have been able to move quickly is because this is a local project rather than a Department for Education led project.

“The committee’s decision to support this capital investment was unanimously agreed and it marks a significant milestone for the school community. I am confident that this investment will greatly benefit the students and staff at Elmfield School for Deaf Children.”

Bristol City Council and Elmfield School have worked collaboratively for several years to find a new location for the secondary department. The announcement of the funding also coincided with Deaf Awareness Week (5-11 May), which this year’s theme, ‘beyond silence’, encourages a greater understanding of the diverse ways in which Deaf and hard-of-hearing people communicate.