New £9.6m sixth form opens in Corby

A new £9.6m sixth form opened its doors for the first time in Corby this morning.

Transcript

00:00 So this is a project that's been about three years in the making, where after various amounts

00:06 of research we were doing, it became really apparent that an alternative academic offer

00:12 for Corby would be a superb thing. It's needed for young people, it's needed for the community

00:17 and this space as a regeneration project became available and through some government funding,

00:25 we've been able to work really closely with North North Anse Council to regenerate and

00:30 breathe new life into this building and create this magnificent facility. Because we're really

00:36 committed to the environment, sustainability has been at the core of its design, along

00:40 with making sure that we have spaces which are accessible and bright and brilliant for

00:45 students learning. So the building itself is now carbon neutral, we've invested really

00:51 heavily in sustainable technologies as part of the £9.6 million investment and what we've

00:57 done is create some beautiful learning spaces for students to enjoy. And then over the next

01:03 few years, the sixth form will grow and thrive and become a bustling community and it will

01:08 all be shaped by the students. So the student union, the members of staff, everybody else

01:14 who will be involved in the community at the Corby sixth form will be able to determine

01:19 how we shape it and how we take it forward. Obviously the Corby sixth form itself is part

01:25 of the Bedford College group as is Tresham College and various other colleges within

01:32 there. What we have been really experienced at doing in Bedford is building the Bedford

01:38 sixth form and that's a sixth form very similar to this that offers a huge variety of A level

01:43 subjects, far more than you would find in most sixth forms and in most schools. So what

01:49 that does is it allows people to really think through and have variety in their A level

01:54 choices and it provides somewhere different to school to support the transition from studying

02:00 at A level at level three into going into university. Where it differs from our Tresham

02:06 College campuses is it is focused on academic study. At Tresham itself we offer all sorts

02:13 of different things from construction to motor vehicles to engineering to hospitality and

02:19 visitor economy. What is offered at the Corby sixth form is an academic education and it

02:26 is right and proper that those things sit side by side with each other so that people

02:29 have a vast array of choice to support their progression. Well it is day one, the students

02:36 that have turned up have been really pleased so far. We have been really clear with them

02:40 that they have got this fantastic facility that they can help to shape and make their

02:44 own and we are really looking forward to working with them in the future. Recruitment has been

02:50 relatively buoyant and I think young people and their families are excited about the prospects

02:55 and the proposition of this sixth form in Corby.