Oct 24

Leading Leeds Special Needs School moves into White Rose Park

Final Press Release issued 7 October 2024

Broomfield South SILC (Specialist Including Learning Centre), an all-age special educational needs school serving south Leeds, has moved into a state-of-the art building at the White Rose Business Park.

Broomfield South will be occupying a 9,000 sq ft former office suite on the ground floor of the refurbished ABC Building. It will accommodate 80 students and 30 staff members.

With the new facilities, Broomfield is relocating its Post-16 students, giving capacity this year to accept more students under the age of 16 to their Belle Isle site, helping to meet the increased demand for SEND placements.

Lizzie Chappell, Assistant Headteacher Personal Development, explained further why the school was moving its Post-16 pupils into the new building at Munro K’s, White Rose Park.

“There are a number of reasons why we have moved our Formal and Semi Formal Post 16 provision to White Rose. First, it’s an excellent destination, well situated close to local amenities, transport and within an exciting education and business hub.  This has enabled us to create a bespoke provision within the space with communal areas that fit with the Post 16 curriculum delivery.  We now have a high quality environment provision to meet the needs of the learners and is fit for purpose.

“We will now be in a better position for Post 16 young people to be Prepared for Adulthood.  Our learners require opportunities, so they are not defined by their disabilities. By moving Post 16 into the heart of a thriving business park, there are opportunities such as work placements, delivery of pre-internship programmes, access to better transport links and real-world learning.

“In addition, we will be able to deliver qualifications we have previously not been able to deliver on our main site and support the 14-19 agenda across Leeds to reduce the NEET (Not in Education, Employment and or Training).

“I’d also add that this was a collaborative project including SENSAP, LCC and multiple contractors to get it over the finish line.  Ollie Maloney (Monroe K) clearly made a commitment early on to ensure that we could meet the timeframes we were working to in our legal obligation to offer SEND placements.”

There will be an official opening of the new Broomfield School building in November.

Heather Roberts, Legal Director at Raworths said: “We worked closely with Broomfield South SILC School as well as partners and collaborators including the landlord’s surveyors and lawyers, Leeds City Council‘s planning and property departments, the Children and Families Directorate and the Department for Education to ensure the new premises were secured and delivered on time, enabling the school to complete the fit-out ready to welcome students for the new school year.

“This much-needed Post 16 provision at White Rose Park will offer even more young people with SEND an incredible opportunity to learn under the guidance of Kathryn Bryan, Lizzie Chappell and their brilliant team, equipping themselves with the skills and knowledge to gain independence and employment. Well done to everyone involved for getting this project over the line.”

Oliver Maloney, Property Manager at White Rose Park, commented: “We are thrilled to welcome Broomfield SILC to the White Rose Park community. Our company’s core values of education, collaboration and innovation align perfectly with the school’s mission statement, making us proud to have supported the relocation of their post-16-19 provision. This partnership goes beyond a commercial transaction, as it will undoubtedly have a lasting positive impact on the young people’s lives attending school here at White Rose Park.

“I want to extend my sincere thanks to all the stakeholders who helped make this project a reality, including Broomfield SILC, Onyx Construction, KNG Building Services, BWF Consultancy, Eamon Fox at Knight Frank, and my colleagues at White Rose Park. Particular thanks must be extended to Marya McInnes, Senior Associate at Pennington Manches Cooper, for her hard work in ensuring the transaction was completed on time given the tight timescales we encountered to ensure swift occupation was achieved,” he said.

Eamon Fox, partner and head of development at the Leeds office of Knight Frank, added: “This is one of the most important deals we will see this year, proving the concept of rethinking the boundaries between high school, college, university and career. The blurring of the lines in education  includes creating new institutions, programs, and pathways to help students succeed in the modern world, evidently being achieved at White Rose Park where Academia and Big Business merge, aligned, feeding each  other, within a new type of ecosystem” .