Top marks for new special school as its earns Newcomer of the Year prize
Aycliffe Business Make Your Mark Awards
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Husqvarna
FINALISTS
Jackie Reynolds from Forest Park School was handed the Newcomer of the Year award by Megan Maguire from category sponsor Husqvarna .
Top marks for new special school as its earns Newcomer of the Year prize
new school that ’ s making its mark at
A Aycliffe was named top of the class in its Make Your Mark Awards category .
Forest Park School – a new independent special school for 11-16 year-olds – was named Newcomer of the Year at ceremony .
And for delighted Forest Park proprietor Jill Gray and headteacher Jackie Reynolds , clinching the Newcomer of the Year prize , sponsored by Husqvarna , is further vindication of their decision to follow their hearts and set the school up .
Jackie explained : “ Jill and I have both worked in education for 24 years each and have always worked in challenging schools .
“ We realised that some children weren ’ t getting their needs met so an opportunity came where Jill was able to invest in the project and together , our vision has created the school we ’ ve opened .”
Jill added : “ We knew we could do things differently and it could make a huge difference . An opportunity came up where we could invest and set up something where we could do things from scratch and how we wanted to do it – we believed in it .
“ Placing children with special educational needs is very difficult . But we know through what we ’ ve done in the past that small settings , small classes , are usually the places where they are most likely to prosper .”
Since receiving the keys last March , the former Bishop Auckland College building has been renovated and now , having received its DfE number in January , Forest Park is taking children between now and when the new term starts in September .
The plan is to have 18 students by September , although the school has a capacity of 30 .
Jackie added : “ It ’ s going amazingly well . We purchased the building from Bishop Auckland College but the land around it was derelict .
“ It was a bit of an eyesore so we ’ ve taken that land and developed it into something really quite special , including a bookable football pitch for community use .”
Jill and Jackie say they hope to work closely with other schools in the area , including Greenfield Academy , where Jackie ’ s a governor and where she herself was educated .
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26 | Aycliffe Business