New Shrewsbury school opens for children with additional social and emotional needs

A new Shrewsbury specialist school has opened the doors to its first pupils.

Pupil Fraser Coupland, 13, at the front with Bettws Lifehouse School headteacher Nici Jones, hub facility manager Terry Humphreys, and Kay Jones and Meg Jones, founding directors

Bettws Lifehouse Kingsland Grange Independent Special School, is designed to meet the needs of children from the age of five right up until 18 years old.

The school, which provides a more specialist education than mainstream schools for children with a range of social and emotional needs, moderate learning difficulties or on the ASD spectrum, is based on the former site of Shrewsbury High Preparatory School on Old Roman Road.

Headteacher Nici Jones said: “The new site is fantastic and pupils and their families have loved coming in this week.

“We have two separate school areas for an upper school and lower school, a post-16 area, a forest school, a dance studio, a canteen and much more.

“It has been well received and is a great environment for them to be supported to achieve the best they can in life, both socially and academically.”

Pupils can learn many skills and have the use of a sensory room if needed

The campus is Bettws Lifehouse School’s third site, the first opening in Bettws Cedewain, near Welshpool in 2007.

Pupils at the Welshpool site last month bucked the national trend by achieving a 100 per cent pass rate in exam results for the third year running.

This year’s 100 per cent pass rate span across approximately 60 separate full qualification entries, including A Levels, GCSEs and BTECs.

Kay Jones, managing director of Bettws Lifehouse, said: “We are delighted with the new school base and our opening this week.

Pupils can learn many skills and including working in the extensive nature areas that the school

“Not only has it got excellent facilities, but it will also allow us to expand as we can cater for up to 100 pupils on the 12-acre site.

“We are working closely with local education authorities across the Midlands to ensure that those children that would benefit from learning with Bettws Lifehouse can do so.

“This new location is brilliant, it is easily accessible for pupils who travel to us from across Shropshire, the Black Country and Wales and we look forward to welcoming even more pupils now we’re easier to get to for more local authority areas.”

For more information on Bettws Lifehouse visit www.bettwslifehousekg.org.