New sixth form college set to open

A NEW post-16 education centre for children with special educational needs in Warrington is to open its doors on Monday.
The opening of the Woolston Sixth Form College is the first phase in the Woolston Learning Village development – an £8 million site for children with special educational needs.
Catering for young people aged 16 and above, the college is the first of its kind in the borough. Students will have exclusive access to tailor-made learning environments to enable them to reach their fullest potential.
Around 30 students will be the first through the doors on Monday. Later they will be joined by all remaining pupils from Fox Wood and Green Lane special schools when the new facilities for both schools open in September.
Fox Wood Special School, in Birchwood, and Green Lane Special School, in Padgate, cater for children aged 4-18 and will co-locate, sharing state of the art specialist resources.
Facilities have been constructed to meet both the education and health needs of the children and students including a purpose built hydrotherapy pool. Facilities will also be open to the wider community in the future.
Paul King, head teacher at Green Lane School, said: “We are delighted that the wait for our joint sixth form provision is over and the co-location of Fox Wood and Green Lane Schools is in sight.
“We now have a superb educational facility that will meet the needs of some of our most vulnerable young people. We are particularly excited that this is a joint project with Fox Wood School and together we want to make our sixth form college the best in the country.
Cllr Colin Froggatt (pictured), the borough council’s lead member for children and young people’s services, said: “The vision for the centre is that parents and children will just need a single conversation to get the right support and there will be much less travelling around visiting different sites. Many services will be accessed in one place. Education and learning, health professionals, social care teams, and more.
“This is a huge financial commitment for the council and the idea has been a long time coming. We listened to children, parents, teachers, school governors and professionals so we could understand their needs and their vision for the future. The centre will be a more advanced, modern learning environment for pupils of both schools, where young people will have access to better equipment, and purpose-built buildings tailored to their needs. And in the future we hope to be able to open the centre up so the whole community can benefit.
“We’re extremely proud to be able to unveil the education village, and have been committed to ensuring that the development went ahead, despite the withdrawal of the building schools for the future funding.”
An official opening ceremony for the sixth form college will be held on Friday April.