New site to aid at-risk pupils

An organisation which teaches children at risk of being kicked out of school is moving into part of the former Bath Community Academy site. Learn@ Multi Academy Trust, which opened the Rush Hill Lansdown Park Academy on September 1, aims to improve the life chances for students in the Bath area who have been or are at risk of exclusion from their secondary school. The academy, working with the support of Bath and North East Somerset Council, had been teaching children at various sites across the city but will soon be able to bring its provision under one roof. The building was previously home to the Bath Community Academy and former Culverhay School. The facilities are being renovated for the academy and will be ready for the beginning of the January term. Trust chief executive Peter Evans said: “All the young people are now on one site and it is much more appropriate. We make sure they have no gaps in their learning. We try to avoid exclusion and give additional support.” Learn@ MAT manages four specialist schools in and around Bristol, and in the Bath and North East Somerset area it is creating 20 places for children from Years 7 to 11 who need support regarding inclusion. Executive Principal for the academy Aileen Morrison said: “Young people in the Bath area who have not coped well in mainstream secondary school, often for reasons that are not their fault, deserve to continue with quality education that leads to reintegration back into mainstream secondary education or on to opportunities for further study, apprenticeships or employment. “At Rush Hill we will build good relationships with local secondary schools to support young people before they become permanently excluded, as this is a damaging process for all concerned.” The council’s Cabinet Member for Children and Young People Councillor Paul May, said: “They bring a wealth of specialist experience from their established schools to support some of our most vulnerable young people and where possible help them make a successful return to mainstream schools.”