New specialist education centre opens its doors for students in Portsmouth

Last month The Bridge was officially opened at The Portsmouth Academy in Fratton, joining more than 21 other schools as a member of the Thinking Schools Academy Trust, an organisation of educational centres committed to transforming the life chances of children and young people. The school itself supports students with ‘complex Cognition and Learning difficulties’, currently focusing on nine Year 7 students with plans to expand to Year 8 pupils in September.

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The Portsmouth Academy’s principal, Assheton Woodall, looks forward to it’s expansion, and the opportunity to support Portsmouth’s children who experience learning difficulties.

He said: ‘It’s exciting that this facility will grow to more than 30 students who will be able to access their learning with key adults to support them – The Bridge is not a school within a school; it’s just another example of how we [The Portsmouth Academy], meet the increasingly diverse needs of the children within our city on a daily basis.’

The Lord Mayor of Portsmouth, Hugh Mason, attended the opening event, alongside councillors, staff from the Thinking Schools Academy Trust, governors, and parents. He was impressed with the work that the centre will carry out for Portsmouth’s young people.

‘The one thing I think we all recognise is that learning is different for different people,’ he said.

‘Some people just swan through it and they learn quite naturally, and they learn quite happily, and then other people have different needs, and a needs-based education, which is what I can see here, is something that is suitable for a lot of young people, and it’s great to see here that this is education for part of a whole community.’

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The centre deviates from the national curriculum to support the students as individuals, tailoring their learning to provide the most appropriate education whilst linking topics to mainstream subjects, at times offering a ‘shadow curriculum’ where it is appropriate. Staff also work alongside professionals such as speech and language therapists, educational psychologists, and physiotherapists, to provide full and catered support to students at the school, as well as establishing a strong relationship with parents and carers.