THE High Sheriff of Wiltshire visited pupils at a school for vulnerable children yesterday in the first of a series of visits to promote positive role models.

Nicky Alberry visited the Riverside Centre in Gorse Hill to meet pupils and be shown around.

The centre is part of Education Other Than At School, which aims to help young people who have left mainstream education for a range of reasons.

Head Meena Jackson explained: “Riverside is a small centre for venerable and anxious pupils. All pupils are referred from their mainstream schools, so our remit is to re-engage pupils in education. Some of our pupils will reintegrate back into mainstream education, some will go onto college. We’re all about providing education in a more supportive environment.

“We do a core curriculum like maths, English and science, albeit in much smaller groups and with more support.”

Ray Dawson who is an advisor for the centre said the reason for the setting up the visit was to inspire the pupils.

“We thought that having the High Sheriff come visit would inspire the pupils to see a lady in a high position who is very well connected in the business world.

"It’s not about education being in isolation, it’s about the education being in partnership with the community.”

He added: “This is the first of several visits, we have firefighters coming as well as the police but if any employers would like to offer to come along too that would be great.

"It’s all about getting the children thinking about their futures, they may have issues going on but there is the wider world out there. They can move on to bigger and better things."

Mrs Alberry said she was very impressed by the centre and the pupils: “The facilities here are fantastic, the staff are so dedicated to working with young people and it’s great that that they are working in smaller numbers to get to know them better, plus it is nice to see all the pupils hard at work.”

She adds that these visits are very important for helping the pupils: “It’s very important to have role models as everyone, no matter who you are has huge potential. Why not try and achieve the best you possibly can? The more people they meet the more confident they will be. The world is their oyster.”