A new school for children with learning difficulties is set to open in Broughton.
ACE Education, which currently provides intervention education for children who are struggling in mainstream school, is set to open a new full-time independent secondary school for children with “mild” learning disabilities.
A planning application has been submitted to convert 11 Broughton Road, which was once a day care centre, into a new place of education.
The school, named Angel Meadow School, will have five GCSEs available and a range of vocational courses on offer to year groups made up of around five pupils.
Soon-to-be headmaster and owner of ACE Education, Daniel Lomax said: “We’re aiming to open in the springtime. We are still awaiting Ofsted registration, but we’re confident that it’s going to be granted to us.
“This (the school) is self-funded between myself and my business partner (Jonas Walls).”
Walls and Lomax founded ACE Education initially to provide for children with issues when intervention is needed until they can return to mainstream school. Angel Meadow differs, as the plan is to have children enrolled full-time.
Speaking on the ambitions for the school, Lomax said: “It will provide a good quality education to students with special educational needs. The school has 25 students, class sizes as small as five. What we really want to do is provide a bespoke and personalised learning journey for those students who have previously struggled in mainstream education.”
This is following plans for another school, designed for primary education, to be opened in Walkden for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
Lomax said: “I’ve been a teacher for nine years. I started off as a PE Teacher in a pupil referral unit and then had the idea to open ACE Education Manchester, which acts as a place where students can go to avoid being excluded.”
When asked if being outside mainstream education could harm a pupil’s chances of succeeding, Lomax explained: “At Angel Meadow we’ve got a really inclusive, but also a really robust, curriculum. As well as offering five GCSEs, your typical English, maths and science, we will also offer GCSEs in humanities and art.”
Well done. Much more is needed so many slip the net my granson was o ok in primary school when he left for highschool he just could not cope with main steam x. So many children out there. Stil struggling. Good luck x