A NEW school has opened near Downend to provide support for children with special needs.
Elmtree Grove School has opened in Overndale Road on the site of the former Gracefield Preparatory School, which closed last summer after 74 years.
As the Voice went to print the new independent special school had 21 full-time pupils, and this was expected to rise to 28 by the February half-term holidays.
All of the children at Elmtree Grove have been referred by local authorities in Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset, who pay the annual £36,000 to £48,500 cost of places after confirming that the school can meet the child’s needs.
The school is opening against a background of a severe shortage of places and funding for special needs provision, and Elmtree Grove chief executive Sarah Morrison said one council had been prepared to take all of the new school’s available places.
She said: “There are 400 children in the region currently without a school place.
“Schools like Elmtree Grove are essential to ensuring every child has the opportunity to achieve their dreams.
“It’s indicative of the level of need that we’re already being asked to open another school.”
Elmtree Grove School is leasing the site from the owners of Gracefield School, which closed in July after its owners said it was no longer financially viable to operate as a prep school, due to falling pupil numbers, cost pressures and the “challenging economic outlook”.
Sarah said: “I read an article saying they were closing.
“A day or so earlier I had sat in a meeting with a young man who hadn’t been able to find a school that fitted his needs.
“I’d told him that if I could, I would open a school that could help him, so when I found out about Gracefield I contacted them to see if it would be suitable.
“They were retiring and planning to sell the site. I came along and threw them a curveball!”
Ofsted inspected the site last autumn and cleared the school to open from December, with up to 40 pupils aged from four to 12, although Sarah said the current aim was to have a maximum of 28 pupils.
The 20 staff include teachers, mentors and leaders who have “significant experience” of supporting children with special needs, with skills in areas including creative arts, speech and language development and outdoor education.
The first pupils arrived in January.
Sarah said: “We’ve gone from wanting to open a school to opening it and being fully operational in six months.”
Sarah runs the Elmtree Learning Partnership, which is based in Weston-super-Mare and provides alternative provision across the region, employing 80 people across a group of companies.
She comes from a background in education recruitment, training and providing support for schools in areas including safeguarding and behaviour.
Head of school Antony Moore said: “Elmtree Grove School exists to support children with a range of additional needs, primarily those related to social, emotional, and mental health, as well as autism and ADHD.
“Our approach is holistic, focusing on understanding each child’s unique educational journey, which for many has been quite difficult.”
The school held an official opening ceremony in January attended by guests from councils, the education sector and Thornbury & Yate MP Claire Young.
Also in attendance was Tracey Shepherd, whose grandson Nico inspired Sarah to open the school and is now a pupil.
She said: “Elmtree Grove School has given Nico confidence and a sense of security.
“He’s gone from attending just half an hour a day to being in full-time. The hardest part of his day now is leaving.
“He’s accomplished more in the past three weeks here than in the last two years of mainstream schooling.”