6th form would provide extra options for pupils

FOR a number of years the Board of Governors of Beechlawn School has been advocating the creation of a 6th Form for our pupils. We believe that a 6th Form would increase the choice available to the parents of children with special educational needs and provide another educational option for their children.

At present when our pupils reach the end of year 12 they have a choice between a course at the Further Education College or some form of employment. These represent excellent options for some of our pupils. However many would find such a change difficult to cope with at that stage and would benefit from another couple of years at Beechlawn. Beechlawn has the benefit of a large estate in Hillsborough and there is little cost associated with bringing our current buildings up to standard to hold the extra classrooms.

The main cost of our proposal would be the extra teaching staff required to teach a 6th form and it is important to remember that no matter what path our pupils choose to pursue there will be a cost incurred to support that pupil in their new course or job. This would mitigate any extra cost as savings would be made in other areas.

We are grateful for the unanimous support of the local councillors and MLA’s for this campaign. We are also grateful to the parents who have consistently supported and advanced our case for a 6th form. We hope the whole community can unite behind our campaign to convince the South Eastern Education and Library Board to support a Beechlawn 6th form.

Alexander Redpath

Governor Beechlawn School