Top award for a special Blackpool school

The Blackpool school has been given an Exceptional Outcomes Award from the Schools, Students and Teachers Network (SSAT).

The national accolade officially recognises the specialist school's innovative practice and the impact it has had on pupils with special educational needs in their sixth form provision at Westbury Sixth Form Centre in Whitegate Drive.

The award is a tribute to the high standards of teaching and learning, and the effective leadership and support provided for sixth formers, which was also highlighted in the special needs school's last Ofsted report.

The sixth form opened in a single classroom in September 2015, before moving to remodelled provision with Woodlands School, on the site of Westbury Lodge Children’s Home in April 2016.

Over the last four years the facility has grown into a multi-purpose learning space, providing students with opportunities to develop not only their academic skills but also employability, personal, social, and life skills through a range of personalised learning pathways, experiences and opportunities.

Another of the key strengths of the curriculum o is the Volunteering and Enterprise programme.

Head of sixth form Hayley Gardiner said: "Volunteering within our local community has been a successful way to involve our students in supporting and improving the wider community, clearly showing them the valuable role they can play within society both now and in the future."

Headteacher Keith Berry added: "It is fantastic for us to see that the substantial further developments around the sixth form curriculum offer, innovative practice and improvements to the environment over the last two years has again been recognised externally."

With support from Swallowdale Children’s Trust and The Blackpool Gazette, the school has developed a life skills suite within Westbury Sixth Form Centre

. This independent living space, known as the Beach Suite, is designed as an apartment and provides a place where students can develop their independent life skills to support their transition into adult life, towards a more independent future.

The school is currently raising funds, with the support of “The Friends of Park Community Academy Charitable Trust” to buy a pop up trailer to support their business and enterprise work within the sixth form and wider community.