UPFRONT
NEW SCHOOL DELIVERS PERFECT BLEND OF ROBUST DESIGN AND STIMULATING ENVIRONMENT Students are settling in well at the latest school operated by Teesside-based Horizons Specialist Academy Trust, which is committed to creating the best possible outcomes for students with a range of special educational needs across both primary and secondary education. trust supports six T heother academies, including a sixth form, in the Middlesbrough and Stocktonon-Tees area. The Mo Mowlam Academy, so named in tribute to the late politician, Mo Mowlam, who was the Labour MP for Redcar from 1987 to 2001, was handed over to the trust by contractor Tilbury Douglas (formerly Interserve) in February this year. The pupil numbers for Mo Mowlam Academy are relatively low compared to typical allthrough schools, entirely due to the needs of the students who attend. In fact, there are fewer than 10 pupils per year group on average. Formally known as Pathways School, the capacity of the former school was 64 pupils, with the new school catering for up to 30 primary and 70 secondary school students, thus enabling all local children aged five to 16 with social, emotional and mental health difficulties
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(SEMH) and living within the Redcar and Cleveland area, to be educated within the borough so that they do not have to travel miles to school. The ethos of the school centres around making a difference to young people, who at some point, have experienced issues surrounding social exclusion both at school and at home, so it was imperative that the design of the new building catered to their specific situational needs.
The design team selection Designing a school building that is both robust and yet able to provide a transformative environment for teaching and learning is a tough call. While the design needs to intrinsically provide security for students and teaching staff, it must also provide a warm backdrop for learning – a safe haven.
