A new school to help children struggling with mainstream education to achieve their full potential will open in Worcester this September.
The Aspire Academy, backed by city schools and colleges, Warriors and the university, will serve all schools in south Worcestershire.
It will cater for 120 full-time equivalent young people with social and emotional needs.
Worcester Warriors will work closely with The Aspire Academy incorporating their successful Walk Like a Warrior project with the schools re-focus programme, which seeks to help young people raise their self- esteem and emotional resilience.
The school will also help to further develop the HITZ Programme, which uses rugby to help improve the lives of 11-to-19-year-olds from challenging backgrounds who are not in education, employment or training.
The Aspire Academy will help to improve provision for young people not achieving in mainstream school or at risk of exclusion.
Referrals to the Academy will come from local schools and a range of educational pathways will ensure the needs of the individual pupil are met and opportunities to experience success are accessible to every pupil.
These are young people who have been failed and really need a better deal. The problem is a national one, where young people are excluded because, for one reason or another, they’re not coping.
There can be a whole complex spread of social or emotional issues which are limiting a pupils’ opportunity to flourish and achieve their full potential.
The Aspire Academy will seek to unlock potential and the close liaison with Warriors will provide a positive route through which this can begin to happen.