New education centre will increase specialist places for children

Article date: December 11th 2024

Members of St Helens Borough Council's Planning Committee approved the application for Four Ways Children's Centre, in Clock Face, to be transformed into an expanded specialist education service that is currently located at Rectory C of E School in Garswood.

The specialist provision will continue to be run by the team at Rectory and it will retain its links with the school as a way to provide clear links to mainstream education for its pupils. At present the specialist provision draws in children from across St Helens Borough.

Mark Palethorpe, Executive Director for Place Services, said: "This is wonderful news for children across our borough who are already using this service and this move will create a further eight spaces for pupils to take advantage of this specialist educational support.

"The team at Rectory have been vital in building this service, which provides three curriculum pathways that means each child can have a bespoke curriculum that not just meets their needs but actively encourages them to thrive and achieve their goals. We are delighted that they will continue to maintain the service and keep the links to a mainstream school. This development means that there are also opportunities for Rectory C of E School to look to expand in the current space with specialist classrooms to continue to provide high quality education."

The new centre will continue to provide three classrooms that focus on the three curriculum areas and will also provide opportunities to bring in more outdoor resources.

Community services provided at the children's centre will be supported to move to nearby community facilities at Chester Lane Library and future locality plans for the area.

Work will now start to prepare the centre for operation which is expected to start from early 2025.