The Department of Education has announced that Writhlington School’s application to open a brand new ‘Studio School’ has been successful. Headteacher, Mark Everett said that he was absolutely delighted that the new school , which will be called The Mendip Studio for Electronic Engineering and Bioscience, will open in September 2015 and will offer exciting high quality specialist Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths courses for 300 14-19 year olds. Writhlington is working in close partnership with the Dyson Foundation, Sciencescope, Intel and a number of Higher Education institutions, including Cambridge, Bath and Bristol Universities.
Working closely with local employers, the new school will offer a range of academic and vocational qualifications including GCSEs in English, Maths and Science, as well as paid work placements linked directly to employment opportunities. This approach ensures students’ learning is rooted in the real world and helps them to develop the skills they need to flourish in life. Students will gain a broad range of employability and life skills and will have the option to go on to university, further training and employment. Enquiry-based learning lies at the heart of how Studio Schools work. Students will learn through Science and Technology projects both in school and with local businesses. In addition students will be able to study extra courses which will help them in the workplace, including qualifications in IT, Computing, Engineering, Electronics and the Sciences.
Students will work in smaller groups with individual support from a ‘personal coach’ who will meet with them one-to-one every fortnight to develop their own personalised learning plan and tailor their curriculum to meet their individual needs and aspirations. The new Mendip Studio will offer choice for young people in the area and will help to equip them with the skills they need in a highly competitive jobs market. Studio Schools are fully inclusive, are open to students of all abilities and comply with the national School Admissions Code.
The building project on the Writhlington campus is expected to start later this year, with completion planned for the summer of 2015. The first students will be able to join the school in September 2015 to start their GCSE or Sixth Form courses.
