Centre to provide support to pupils (From Swindon Advertiser)

Centre to provide support to pupils

6:00pm Friday 9th November 2012 in News By Emma Dunn

ANGER management sessions, therapeutic work and attendance sessions are just some of the ways pupils at Churchfields Academy will benefit from a facility that opened yesterday.

The Grove Learning Centre was opened at the secondary school in Walcot by South Swindon MP Robert Buckland.

The centre offers new and innovative resources to help all 950 students reach their full potential.

Churchfields Academy headteacher Steve Flavin said: “We’re really pleased that Robert Buckland has visited the academy to see the new centre in action.

“He is a strong supporter of the town’s schools, and we were delighted to see that he has been nominated for an award due to his work with children with special needs.

“We’ve made the decision to target some significant investment into The Grove Learning Centre, as we are convinced that we will support students to continue to achieve their impressive grades and fulfil their potential.

“Many schools are just beginning their journey of providing for these types of needs, and we are really proud that we are leading the way in this area both locally and nationally.”

Specialist staff will be based in the centre to look after student welfare.

Assistant headteacher Sara Wilson said: “The new resource will mean that we will improve academic performance and lower the amount of exclusions.

“We have a range of rooms available to us that mean that we can be flexible in attending to the particular needs of students.

“The new centre allows us to offer a wide range of interventions such as nurture groups, anger management sessions, attendance sessions, therapeutic work and we have new facilities such as a parent support area.”