Black Country colleges and school are to share £1.6m
Two colleges and a school in the Black Country will share a windfall of more than £1.6 million to create 230 extra places to teach young people with special needs.
Dudley Council has beaten off fierce competition from other areas to win the Government cash to build facilities aimed at 16 to 19-year-olds who have learning difficulties and disabilities.
Pens Meadow School, based at Ridge Hill, Brierley Hill Road, Wordsley, will receive £592,000 to refurbish Shousters House, a derelict former health building next door, to provide state of the art facilities so that it can take in another 40 youngsters.
Headteacher Marie Bissell said: "We are thrilled – it's fantastic news and will help us to create sixth form facilities, not just for our own pupils but for young people from across the borough."
Stourbridge College will get a £540,000 share of the grant to create 150 new places for students with complex needs, including the provision of a unit where they can learn how to become more independent, as well as developing business and enterprise skills.
And Dudley College gets £516,244 – on top of another £745,200 awarded last year - to provide a 'transition centre' for high needs students. Councillor Tim Crumpton, Dudley's cabinet member for children's services and life long learning, said: "This is a tremendous achievement and I have to pay tribute to our officers who have fought long and hard to obtain this funding that will transform the lives of so many of our children and their families, enabling them to lead richer and more rewarding lives."
Local business - The Saltwells Inn, Brierley Hill
