Monday 25 February 2013

Mostyn Mahoney - Building Schools for the Future


The Club has been a long time supporter of the Tettenhall Wood special school in Wolverhampton.


As part of the Building Schools for the Future project Wolverhampton secured £330 million funding to develop schools more suited to the needs of the new century.

Tettenhall Wood was one of the first schools in the area to benefit from the Scheme together with the Kings School  and since September they have been co-located on the redeveloped Kings site - now known as the Tettenhall Learning Campus.

Headmaster Mostyn Mahoney, an old friend of the Club, joined us tonight to give us an insight into the design process.

Tettenhall Wood is the designated School in Wolverhampton for students diagnosed as autistic. The School's teaching methods mean that pupils need larger work areas and the new classrooms are large enough for each pupil to have their own individual work area, while still providing opportunities for group working and developing social interaction.

Specific break out areas within each classroom enable staff to move pupils into a calmer environment where anxieties can be overcome before pupils are re-integrated into the classroom.

Each of the classrooms has direct access to the outside providing a further level of break out as well as enabling staff to incorporate outdoor learning into the curriculum.

It's fair to say that Mostyn and his colleagues weren't able to secure all that they had wished in the design of the new school but the facilities are a massive improvement on their former premises and are making a real difference to the education which they are able to offer to these special pupils.

Members of the Club are looking forward to having the opportunity of seeing the school themselves this week when we visit the new site.