Westbury officially opened its new £4m expansion on 2nd October – increasing its provision from 45 permanent places to 120 places.

Work started earlier in the summer to get the buildings ready for the new academic year with new classrooms, offices and recreation facilities for KS2 and 3.

A special ribbon-cutting ceremony and plaque-unveiling was held at Westbury with Cllr Neghat Khan, Portfolio Holder for Education and Skills in Nottingham, to mark the official opening.

Marcus Wells, Principal of Westbury Academy, said: “Our school continues to make a difference to our pupils and I am very proud to see the recognition that we are receiving for this through the commitment of the council in funding this development. We’re really excited by this expansion at Westbury and the opportunity it gives to pupils in Nottingham City. Increasing capacity from 45 permanent places to 120 places means more parents can access this specialist provision.”

Councillor Khan added: “When we started out on this expansion programme, it was essential to make sure that top-class facilities are made available to all pupils in Nottingham, including those with special educational needs and disabilities.

“As well as extending current special schools, we are working to introduce further specialist provision within mainstream schools in the City to support those parents who want more options available to them.”

I am glad to say that after all of the waiting and the turmoil that it has caused, the new building for the school is complete and the school and its grounds look really nice with the whole site finished. The school is now one that the staff and pupils can be proud of and far better reflects their efforts and attempts to improve themselves both academically and socially.

Pupils continue to make good progress whilst at Westbury as a whole. This year the commitment in the exams from the Year 11 was fantastic with all of them working for as long as they possibly could for each and every paper. A sterling effort despite the new changes to the exam system. The pressures of actual exams continue to be a significant issue for our pupils and is an issue that we intend to focus on with even greater intensity this year in the hope that our pupils are fully prepared.

Slowly but surely we are increasing our numbers from 80 to 120 over the coming years. This year will be the first time that we have had a two-form entry for all of Key stage 3 and 4, with the exception at the moment of Year 8. This has enabled us to stream the pupils, for the first time, in individual subjects so that each pupil’s learning can be maximised to an even greater extent than previously. It will be interesting to see the impact from this over the next few years.

Nothing reminds me more of how important we are as a school for our pupils than when an ex pupil ‘drops in’ and thanks us for what we have done in supporting them both academically and emotionally so that they can now function as a positive member of society who actively contributes to it. Sometimes it takes a while for our pupils to mature and ‘sort’ themselves out – but until that point in time the education we have given them, both in its widest sense and the qualifications that they have earned, gives them the basic foundations that they need in life to succeed.

Please don’t hesitate to contact the school if you have any questions about Westbury or the Raleigh Learning Trust.