New SEND School in Burnsley, Holdsworth School Prepares to Open this September
Our new school in Burnley is almost ready to open soon! The former St. Joseph’s Park Hill Primary School in Burnley is now preparing to reopen as Holdsworth School, a school for children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND).
Holdsworth School is due to open in September this year and will accommodate up to 70 pupils from the surrounding areas with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs, communication and interaction difficulties and those with a neurodiverse profile.
We have been developing and refurbishing the property ahead of its reopening and it was recently visited by Ofsted for our pre-registration inspection.
Loren Cahill is the head of organic growth at Polaris, one of the largest children’s services groups in the UK and has worked on every stage of the school’s development, she said:
“We are very proud of our specialist school provision and are particularly pleased that we’ve been able to maintain this school building’s purpose while offering a much-needed resource to Lancashire families.
“We’ve refreshed and refurbished the building to ensure it’s appropriate for our small class sizes with safe spaces for children to regulate when needed and ultimately get the most out of their schooling.
“At Polaris, we want school to be a magical and fulfilling experience. We already support many children who didn’t find their place in mainstream and are so excited to provide this same experience for children in the local area.”
All staff including a new head teacher have been appointed and will start in September alongside the first cohort of pupils.
Holdsworth School will work collaboratively with local authorities to ensure places are offered to children who need specialist support to help them follow the curriculum. It will also have a forest school.
The school has been renamed after Lancashire writer Ethel Holdsworth, a poet, journalist and children’s author who was the first working-class woman in Britain to publish a novel to celebrate women’s contributions to education throughout history.