Two new academies for Bristol – but no secondary school for Knowle
Oasis Community Learning has just had Government approval to build two new academies in the city – but Knowle will not have its secondary school.
Oasis, will establish South Bristol Oasis Academy next to its John Williams Academy in Hengrove which will open in September 2019 for 900 pupils.
The other school, Oasis Academy Temple Quarter, will have 1,800 students including sixth form and be a key feature of the Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone and is due to open in September 2018.
Oasis’s Regional Director in the south-west region, Matt Butler, said they were “delighted” the Department for Education had given the go ahead for the proposals.
He said: “As an organisation we are committed to serving the young people and families of this great city, and for the last eight years Oasis’s eight academies have been striving to deliver exceptional education at the heart of the community, while raising the aspirations of each and every one of our young people.
“The Government’s approval of our plans for Oasis Academy Temple Quarter and Oasis Academy South Bristol is thanks in no small part to the accomplishments of our existing Bristol academies and staff, and I am very grateful to them all.
“The decision today is of course just the next step towards the creation of schools. Oasis will now begin a process of reaching out and engaging with the local families and residents around the Temple Quarter development and in Hengrove. As an inclusive, community-centered trust that exists to serve others, we know that it is only by listening and engaging that we will be able to create these exceptional new academies.”
But Bristol Grammar School’s (BGS) application for a 1,000 place non- selective secondary school at Knowle was unsuccessful.
Headmaster Rod MacKinnon said: “We are very disappointed that our Free School application for a comprehensive Reception through to YR11 co-educational school has not been successful. We greatly appreciate the support from the local community we received in preparing our bid and are sorry if families feel as disappointed as we do about this.
