College campus to close
A TYNESIDE college campus is to close, with hundreds of pupils to be relocated to another campus for the next academic year.
Queen Alexandra Sixth Form College in North Shields has had considerable funding ploughed into it in recent years, but it is now estimated that maintaining the partGrade II-listed building on Hawkeys Lane to health and safety standards would cost in excess of £200,000.
The sixth form, which is part of the Tyne Coast College group, has said it has lost a significant amount of commercial income from its overseas client base as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Therefore
the decision has been made to relocate its 423 students and 21 members of staff to its sister institution Tyne Metropolitan (TyneMet) College campus in Wallsend.
It is understood there will be no redundancies as a result of the temporary relocation.
The college says students’ learning will not be affected by the move, with them being accommodated in Block B at the TyneMet campus which is currently undergoing a transformation.
Students will also receive help with any additional costs that travelling to Battle Hill will incur.
The Queen Alexandra brand will continue, with the relocation only expected to be for a 12-month period as the college secures newfacilities ahead of the 2021/22 academic year.
A spokeswoman for Queen Alexandra Sixth Form said: “The sixth form college building was in a state of disrepair at the point of merger in 2017. However, the main partGrade II-listed building is now in such a serious state of disrepair that costs to continue to maintain the building have escalated to well in excess of £200,000...without any room for investment in improving the building or, any of our other sites. The senior team, with the support of governors, made the decision to relocate for a period of 12 months, to our Wallsend campus while new and better facilities in North Shields are sourced.
“To ensure all aspects of this temporary relocation are seamless, a logistics group, a communications group and a curriculum group are working on key areas of the move. In addition, we have a task group working on arrangements for the existing site and securing new premises. We are working closely with North Tyneside Council, as well as feeder schools in the area.
“We are confident that all of our learners will benefit from being at our Wallsend campus in their own dedicated building, but with a broader range of facilities available to them.”