Hyndburn Studio School to focus on work-related skills

A new vocational school is to open in East Lancashire next year, focusing on work-related skills.

Hyndburn Studio School will cater for 300 students, aged between 14 and 19, combining academic subjects with industry-related qualifications.

The timetable will see students working nine-to-five days and booking leave, instead of taking school holidays.

The school, the first of its kind in the county, hopes to provide practical experience to tackle skills shortages.

The six industry areas it will focus on will be care and health, sport, leisure and tourism, hospitality and catering, business and finance, and construction skills.

'Enable them to fly'

Students will be taught in small groups, and have work placements as a main element of their timetable. For sixth-form students this will be up to two days per week and will be paid.

Executive Director of the school, Sue Taylor, said hands-on learning was important to students who would not otherwise reach their full potential in a traditional school environment.

She said: "Often at 14 young people are ready for work, ready for a different experience and they droop a bit = not everyone - but there are a certain number of students where something different would enable them to fly.

"From the employment side, employers are telling us they struggle to recruit young people because they're often coming out of school with lots of qualifications but are not work-ready."

The Hyndburn Studio School, which will be at Waterside in the centre of Accrington, will offer 100 places from September 2012, rising to 300 by 2015.