Earlier this month the Department for Education announced that it had approved Derby College’s £4.5 million bid to open a Studio School at its old Mundy Street campus in Heanor.
The bid, which received my support in Parliament in October of last year, will result in parents being given more choice about where to send their children to school.
A studio school is an innovative approach to education and involves the excellent standards of academic experience that a school should provide, while arming students with employability and enterprise skills, a “hands-on” approach to learning and real work experience and skills by partnering with local businesses. The education of a child is tailored; each student gets a personalised curriculum building on their strengths and supporting them where they need it.
The announcement could mean that the school can open by September 2014, which is fantastic news.