Prestley Wood Academy will provide an inclusive environment centred around ECO values with forest school learning at its heart. Prestley Wood Academy is Alconbury Weald’s Special Educational Needs School and will serve children and young people aged 3 to 19. It will include a centre for autism and a specialist centre for 19-25 year olds with profound and complex learning difficulties, including medical needs.
The ECO values and landscape design of the school will support the curriculum to provide a range of initiatives including residential and educational visits, forest school learning, specialist art-creativity and sport and fitness. Pupils will receive high quality vocational education and employability training as well as skills to support them to live independently. Older students will have the opportunity to set up a café and shop, which the community can use, to develop their experiences and build links with local residents. The building will also provide a specialist hydrotherapy pool, which it is hoped can be opened up to the wider community.
Prestley Wood Academy will be run as its own school but with strong links to Huntingdon’s nearby Spring Common Academy Trust, which is part of the same Horizons Academy Trust. It will share the significant expertise of the Executive Head and central team, who have made the Huntingdon school a huge success, as recognised through its ‘outstanding’ 2018 Ofsted rating and recent autism accreditation renewal.
“This is such an exciting opportunity for us. Prestley Wood Academy will provide a vital addition to the special needs capacity and choice in the local area. We have a strong, inclusive vision to offer building on the success at Spring Common Academy. We are so excited at the opportunities that Prestley Wood opens up for us and we plan to create a really special place for some amazing young people, to help them be able to shine.”