Huddersfield handed £4m grant for new Rawthorpe studio school

Nov 27 2009 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

HUDDERSFIELD has been chosen as one of only two sites to pilot a new type of school.

Schools Minister Ed Balls confirmed last night that the Nether Hall Learning Campus in Rawthorpe is one of two locations chosen to host a studio school.

And more than £4m will be allocated to the project, which offers vocational and practical learning to children and young people aged from 14 to 17.

A trial scheme at the Rawthorpe site has been running for a year with 17 teenagers, working alongside experts from the Huddersfield business world.

The new school will be based in the former Rawthorpe Junior School and will offer places for around 300 students from all over Kirklees.

Joan Young, headteacher at the Nether Hall campus, said: “It’s absolutely brilliant news for Huddersfield and for young people across Kirklees.

“It opens up great opportunities for hundreds of students who work better with practical skills and will give them a whole range of qualifications.

“We are delighted but we would not have achieved this without the support of the employers working in Huddersfield’s creative and media industry.”

Studio schools offer a new curriculum involving practical learning and paid work.

They have been designed to suit the needs of young people who might not otherwise reach their full potential in a traditional school environment.

Students participate in a range of activities, learning the majority of the curriculum through practical learning and paid work.

On leaving a studio school, students will have gained qualifications such as GCSEs, A-levels and diplomas, opening up a range of routes including university.

In the trial scheme, students have set up their own mock business and learned business skills including marketing, finance and design.