‘Academia and big business merge’ as school moves on to business park
Broomfield South SILC (Specialist Including Learning Centre), a special educational needs school serving south Leeds, is moving into a state-of-the art building at Munro K’s White Rose Business Park.
Broomfield South will be occupying a 9,000 sq ft former office suite on the ground floor of the refurbished ABC Building. It will accommodate 80 students and 30 staff members.
With the new facilities, Broomfield is relocating its Post-16 students, giving capacity this year to accept more students under the age of 16 to its Belle Isle site, helping to meet increased demand for special educational needs and disabled (SEND) placements.
Lizzie Chappell, assistant headteacher personal development, said: “We now have a high quality environment provision to meet the needs of our learners and is fit for purpose.
“We will now be in a better position for post 16 young people to be prepared for adulthood. Our learners require opportunities, so they are not defined by their disabilities.
“By moving Post 16 into the heart of a thriving business park, there are opportunities such as work placements, delivery of pre-internship programmes, access to better transport links and real-world learning.
“In addition, we will be able to deliver qualifications we have previously not been able to deliver on our main site.”
Heather Roberts, legal director at Raworths, said: “We worked with Broomfield South SILC School as well as partners and collaborators including the landlord’s surveyors and lawyers, Leeds City Council‘s planning and property departments, the Children and Families Directorate and the Department for Education to ensure the new premises were secured and delivered on time, enabling the school to complete the fit-out ready to welcome students for the new school year.
“This much-needed Post 16 provision at White Rose Park will offer even more young people with SEND an incredible opportunity to learn under the guidance of Kathryn Bryan, Lizzie Chappell and their brilliant team, equipping themselves with the skills and knowledge to gain independence and employment.”
Oliver Maloney, property manager at White Rose Park, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Broomfield SILC to the White Rose Park community.
“Our company’s core values of education, collaboration and innovation align perfectly with the school’s mission statement, making us proud to have supported the relocation of their post-16-19 provision.
“This partnership goes beyond a commercial transaction, as it will undoubtedly have a lasting positive impact on the young people’s lives attending school here at White Rose Park.”
Eamon Fox, partner and head of development at the Leeds office of Knight Frank, added: “This is one of the most important deals we will see this year, proving the concept of rethinking the boundaries between high school, college, university and career.
“The blurring of the lines in education includes creating new institutions, programs, and pathways to help students succeed in the modern world, evidently being achieved at White Rose Park where Academia and Big Business merge, aligned, feeding each other, within a new type of ecosystem.”
