New Horizons School to TBAP New Horizons Alternative Provision Academy
- By Paul Adams
- May 31, 2018
- Comments Off on New Horizons School to TBAP New Horizons Alternative Provision Academy
In July 2010, following Local Authority decisions, the well-loved and well-supported Longbarn Community Primary School, sadly, was closed.
Subsequently, Warrington Borough Council agreed that the site should be refurbished and it is now the home of New Horizons School, operating as an “Alternative Provision”. New Horizons School is a specialized service supporting young people, aged 5-16, with additional social, emotional and mental health needs who require preventative/direct intervention. They support and educate young people who have been or are at risk of being excluded from their mainstream setting and/or who are socially excluded for reasons of illness/vulnerability.
The nature of the work which takes place here requires a higher level of security and the openness of a primary school has been lost.
For some time now, LRA has been working jointly with New Horizons, to help the school integrate into the Longbarn community. The joint aim is to foster and maintain, a mutually beneficial relationship. This working-together allows any associated problems and concerns that residents may have, to be raised and addressed.
An example of the relationship working was that, following concerns about the siting of a new junior classroom, raised by residents of Freshfields Drive and Fallowfield Grove, LRA was able to influence New Horizons’ plans for the location of the classroom. At the same time, New Horizons agreed to increase the size of the on-site car parking to help reduce congestion near the shop and Fallowfield Grove.
New Horizons converted into a Multi Academy Trust (Tri-Borough Alternative Provision) in January 2018 and is now known as TBAP New Horizons AP Academy. The cohort of learners remains the same as do the staff but they are now part of a nationwide trust supporting some of the most vulnerable children in Warrington.
A member of the LRA is a member of the new academy’s Local Advisory Board providing support and challenge to the school as part of the governing body structure.
The staff at the school value our link with the community. As a result, they have worked with LRA, by giving the use of the school field and facilities, to host LRA’s Firework Night Party and Family Fun Day.