Bridge Learning Campus is a mixed gender

all-through school An all-through school (also known as an integrated school) educates young people throughout multiple educational stages, generally throughout childhood and adolescence. Definition The term "all-through" can be legitimately applied to establis ...

located in the

Whitchurch Park Whitchurch Park is a council ward located in the south of the city of Bristol in England. It includes the eastern part of Hartcliffe and the western part of Whitchurch. The ward has a population of 11,061 people. Religion 7,683 people, or ...

area of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, England.

History

Its construction was completed in December 2008, opening to students the following January. It was officially opened by

The Princess Royal Princess Royal is a title customarily (but not automatically) awarded by British monarchs to their eldest daughters. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal family. There have been ...

in October 2009. BLC, as an all through school, enjoys a rare identity as one of only a handful of schools in the UK where a child can begin and end their entire school career within the same establishment. There are many potential benefits to this approach, both operationally for the school and ultimately for the educational progress of the pupils. BLC has incorporated the secondary school formerly known as Hartcliffe Engineering Community College, and also the former Teyfant Community Primary School. BLC (or "The Bridge" as it has become known) has been constructed as part of the former Labour Government's

Building Schools for the Future Building Schools for the Future (BSF) was the name given to the British government's investment programme in secondary school buildings in England in the 2000s. Around half of the work was procured under the private finance initiative. The deli ...

programme (since scrapped). Additionally, New Fosseway Special School also re-located to the new site in 2009, joining the campus organisation. One of the key drivers for the establishment of BLC is the need to improve educational standards in the Hartcliffe area, particularly at secondary school levels. There is little doubt that standards have increased for the school, as GCSE results have risen year-on-year for Bridge Learning Campus Secondary since 2005. The staff within the new campus are determined to innovate. There is still a distinction between the primary and secondary areas of the campus, however due to an introduction of a phasing system, pupils are no longer educated based on their age. Rather, pupils in all phases will be in classes based on their ability. The adoption of this phasing system has been recognised by

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

in their most recent inspection of the secondary phases as a positive development, and also during a visit by former Secretary of State

Ed Balls Edward Michael Balls (born 25 February 1967) is a British former politician, broadcaster and economist. He served as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families from 2007 to 2010, and as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2011 to ...

. The original Hartcliffe School was built in the late 1950s and was home to over 2200

students A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution, or more generally, a person who takes a special interest in a subject. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school ...

on the site now occupied by BLC. The original school was built to serve new housing which replaced bomb damaged properties during the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

period and at the time it was one of the largest schools in the country. The original buildings have since been demolished as part of the rebuild.

Future

It was proposed to convert to an academy on 1 November 2012. This was pushed back to 1 December 2012, followed by 1 January 2013, then 1 February 2013, then again until 1 March 2013.

References

External links

Official Website
{{authority control Academies in Bristol Educational institutions established in 1958 Primary schools in Bristol Secondary schools in Bristol 1958 establishments in England