Plans for a new Ipswich high school that puts a twist on traditional education have been given the green light by the council.
The application to convert the former Willow Park Montessori Nursery in Tuddenham Road into a Montessori high school was approved by Ipswich Borough Council on December 16.
The application was submitted by the proprietor of the Meadows Montessori School in Larchcroft Road, Samantha Sims. Mrs Sims was also the proprietor of the Willow Park Montessori Nursery, which closed in August due to a shortage of early years staff.
While secondary schoolers have been accepted into the Meadows school alongside primary-aged students since 2020, this will be the first Montessori school exclusively for high school students in East Anglia.
Mrs Sims said that she hoped the high school would open shortly after February half-term in 2023.
She explained that demand was growing for the type of education that Montessori schools like hers can provide.
She said: “I think parents are becoming wiser as to how the education system does not suit every child, for many different reasons. After the last couple of years, children have been out of school because of Covid, and some have found it trickier to get back into the system again.
“Our smaller environment and the different way we teach nurtures all children to be able to develop themselves educationally, to the best they can.”
The 22 high school-aged students who currently attend the Meadows school would then be moved to this site, which has capacity for 40 students.
Mrs Sims continued: “Education for us is an education for all children. It’s a holistic education, and it focuses, particularly for high schoolers, on preparing them for their next steps.
“One of our purposes is to make sure our students are well-rounded adults, rather than just teenagers who have been trained to sit exams.
“Exams are important, and they will all sit their GCSEs. But they have to be happy, and they have to enjoy learning and being a community.
“This is something we strive for, in both our primary and our high school.”
The headteachers of the high school will be Matt Sims and David Green, while Mrs Sims will be head of school for both the primary and secondary schools.
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