Meadow High School's new Northwood Road campus in Harefield opened on 28 September with 90 places for pupils with SEND, in a former football academy block.
Meadow High School’s new campus in Harefield opened to pupils on Monday 28 September. It adds 90 school places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
The campus is on Northwood Road, about four miles north of Uxbridge. It completes the second phase of the school’s expansion, the council announced on 29 September.
Meadow High is the borough’s largest special school. Its main site is on Royal Lane, in Uxbridge.
What is on the new site
The campus replaces an unused residential block. The council lists:
- 10 classrooms, including science, food technology, art, independent living, and speech and language rooms
- a library and common room
- space for physiotherapy, a fitness room and medical facilities
- a multi-use games area
- kitchen and dining areas, and a conference room
- an eco-roof, solar panels, and car and cycle parking
Where possible, materials from the old building were reused or recycled.
From football boarding house to classrooms
The building has an unusual history. It was put up as a boarding block on the Harefield Academy site. Young players from Watford Football Club’s academy, who joined the school roll, boarded there until a couple of years before 2022. That is set out in the Cabinet report that approved the scheme in July 2022.
Turning it into a school was not simple. The report describes a three-storey timber-framed block of bedrooms and kitchens, where many of the internal walls hold the building up. It was too small for a special school on its own, so a new two-storey extension was added for six of the classrooms.
The council owns the freehold of the Harefield Academy site. The academy holds a 150-year lease from 2005, and the plan was for part of it to be handed back for Meadow’s use.
Why the borough needed it
In January 2022 Meadow High had 256 pupils on roll, around 30% of all pupils in the borough’s special schools. Of those, 82 were taught in four temporary modular units that were reaching the end of their life.
Without new buildings, the school would have lost those 82 places over four years. The plan was to build on both sites instead:
- Royal Lane: a new block for 90 pupils, replacing the 82 places in the modular units, a gain of 8
- Northwood Road, Harefield: 90 new places
That makes a net gain of 98 places and a total capacity of 354 across both sites. The Royal Lane building opened last autumn.
The report gave a pre-tender estimate of £16.98 million for the two expansions. The council’s capital bid to the Department for Education was tied to its “safety valve” deal to clear the deficit on its schools budget.
The council’s case was about cost as well as need. Each extra place in the borough was estimated to save an average of £24,000 on independent and out-of-borough placements. It was also estimated to save £11,000 on SEN transport.
What the council and school say
Cllr Susan O’Brien, the Cabinet Member for Adults, Children, Health and Care, toured the site before it opened. “Every child deserves the opportunity to learn, grow and succeed in an environment that meets their individual needs,” Cllr O’Brien said.
Cllr Nick Denys, the Cabinet Member for Planning, Housing and Property, said it would “help reduce the council’s reliance on expensive independent special school places”.
Headteacher Graham Cunningham said the second site would allow the school to provide “an additional 90 places”. The headteacher added: “The standard of the build is amazing.”
Later than first planned
The new campus has been some years in the making. Meadow High wrote to families in March 2022 confirming each child’s pathway and “expected site of provision for September 2023”, according to the Cabinet report. The report called the plan the quickest route to meeting need “from 2024”.
The campus opened in September 2026. The council’s announcement does not say what caused the gap.
What it means for you
- Places: Meadow High caters for secondary-age pupils with moderate learning difficulties and complex needs such as autism. Places at a special school are allocated through an education, health and care plan (EHCP), not the normal admissions round.
- If your child has an EHCP: the council’s SEND team names the school in the plan. More places inside the borough mean fewer children sent to schools outside Hillingdon, and shorter journeys.
Term dates for Hillingdon schools, including the October half-term, are on our Hillingdon school term dates page.
Sources
- Council increases vital SEND school places, Hillingdon Council, 29 September 2026: opening date, facilities, places and quotes
- Outcome of consultation on the proposed satellite of Meadow special school on the Harefield Academy site, Hillingdon Cabinet decision, 7 July 2022, and the Cabinet report: pupil numbers, the building’s history, costs, savings and the 2022 timetable
- Expansion of Meadow High School, Hillingdon Cabinet decision, 24 March 2022
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