Disused classrooms live again as a satellite special-needs school
THREE MONTHS ago the classrooms were empty and the corridors silent, but now a redundant North Yorkshire school is once again welcoming.
Having been consistently oversubscribed, Mowbray School in Bedale, which caters for children with special educational needs, has now opened a satellite school in Ripon.
According to its most recent Ofsted report, Mowbray offers good opportunities for pupils’ personal development and headteacher Jonathan Tearle has long harboured an ambition to open a satellite school to serve the Harrogate district.
Laura Pottage, whose sevenyear-old daughter, Molly, is one of 12 children in the first enrolment, said: “It’s fantastic. This provision was desperately needed in this area. It’s a very dynamic, forwardthinking school which prepares children for life in society and delivers a good education in a way children can engage with. Molly is very, very happy.”
North Yorkshire County Council supported the plans, providing almost £400,000 to adapt the former Moorside Infant School in Ripon and a further £200,000 towards staffing, resources and other costs.
The council’s executive member for education and skills, Coun Patrick Mulligan, said: “Providing additional high-quality special school places like this is part of our strategic plan for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
“We want more children to access the right kind of education locally to cut down on journeys to school, which can be across the county in some cases.”
The Ripon site will accommodate 20 children by the end of this school year, rising to 40 from September 2021 and will eventually have a capacity for 60.
Mr Tearle said: “It’s remarkable to think we have just opened because the children have settled in straight away.
“We took over an empty school in Ripon in November and I am so proud of my staff in getting things up and running. They have been phenomenal.”