The first school of its kind in the country will be unveiled in Lambeth tomorrow as part of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.

Park Campus is a specialist site supporting Lambeth's mainstream schools by providing education for up to 80 11 to 18-year-olds who have a wide range of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.

New leadership at Park Campus in recent years has already lead to significant successes. In the past six months alone four young people have been helped back into mainstream schools. The new purpose-built site is set to help even further, for example, there are no remote areas outside the school where pupils can loiter unobserved because the need for supervision has been taken into account into the design.

The aim of the new school in West Norwood is to support even more young people back into Lambeth's mainstream secondary schools.


Cllr Paul McGlone, Lambeth's Cabinet Member for children and young people, said: "This innovative new site is the first of its kind in the country and it will help us to tackle the most challenging students. This is the latest success story for Lambeth schools - three more mainstream secondary schools have already been launched, we have a top quality school for pupils with special educational needs and a series of big improvements are in store for the borough's primary schools too."

Tim Byles, Chief Executive of Partnerships for Schools said: "Building Schools for the Future is about transforming where and how students learn so that each and every young person is given the opportunity to unlock their potential. Through this unprecedented investment local authorities, like Lambeth, have an opportunity to ensure that all young people - whatever their background, whatever their needs - have access to 21st century teaching and learning environments to equip them for the future."

The school has top quality facilities available for wider community use outside of school hours including a high-tech Astroturf pitch, fully equipped mini gym and a multi-use area that can be used for sports, meetings and as a performance hall.

Like other newly built schools in the borough, all classrooms are also equipped with high-tech whiteboards, projectors, audio systems and Classpads - devices which enable the whole class to be interactive.

The new site includes a science lab, food technology classrooms and a multi-media suite, meaning a broad curriculum can be offered for the first time alongside specialist support.

(CD/JM)