Cheshire East Council has agreed funding to convert its former Westfields headquarters in Sandbach into a new special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) school to serve families across Cheshire East, including those in Macclesfield. The project will develop the Westfields site into an all-through school offering 140 places for pupils aged 4–19.
Council leaders say the new school is a vital step in ensuring local children do not have to travel long distances to specialist provision outside the borough. By creating 140 local places, the council aims to reduce the high costs and disruption of transporting pupils while keeping them closer to their communities.
The council plans to fund the conversion with roughly £16 million from its SEND capital programme. Westfields was closed as a council office in December 2024 as part of a workplace-transformation strategy intended to reduce costs. Claire Williamson, the council’s Director of Education, has said the building is important to the work the council is doing on high needs and will help ensure pupils can remain within Cheshire East for their education.
As reported, the decision comes against the backdrop of a substantial deficit in the council’s Dedicated Schools Grant and wider SEND funding pressures. Cheshire East has paused other planned specialist provision – including a proposed expansion at Springfield in Middlewich – to prioritise the Westfields project. The council expects the new school to open in the 2027/28 academic year, subject to planning and statutory processes.
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