Aurora Poppyfield Specialist School opens in Effingham
Last updated 1st Apr 2022
The Aurora Group celebrated their latest specialist school opening yesterday at Aurora Poppyfield in Effingham.
The specialist secondary school for 11 to 16 years focuses on the needs of children who previously struggled in mainstream education.
Mole Valley MP Sir Paul Beresford attended the opening for the Special Needs & Disability school to cut the ribbon during the official opening.
Once Aurora Poppyfield is running at full capacity, the school will host 40 pupils from across the county, at the school which used to be home to the former British Legion building in Effingham.
Students will enjoy access to a range of specialist on-site facilities, with a dedicated staffing team, led by head teacher Suzy Everitt.
"For our young people it's really important that we give them a voice. We want them very much to be part of the development of our school.
"Part of getting our equipment, part of developing our provision will be based on and around our young people's needs and their likes and their interests."
Suzy is leading her team of teachers, whilst still searching for others who are keen to join a motivated team and make an interest in the pupils lives.
Student Katie is already seeing the benefits of the Aurora Poppyfield school, with her teachers focusing on her needs and supporting her.
Katie told us:
"They're just really nice and really understanding. It's not like in a mainstream school where it's like you have to be at this level, at this school its like we can work on that and then you can get to this level and we can always go back if we need to go back."
Katie's favourite subject is cooking at school, and is using the skills she learns to help teach her sister.
The school has been renovated from the old British Legion building. Vice Chairman of the Royal Surrey County British Legion John Kingsbury also attended Poppyfield's opening to see how the building had changed.
"I think it's remarkable what's been achieved. What was a building that was in desperate need of renovation has been gutted and turned into a school which is unrecognisable.
"The ability for children to go and contemplate their anxieties alone in separate rooms is almost unbelievable, it's just remarkable."
The opening of Aurora Poppyfield is the latest of the Aurora services, who now have 17 services across England.
Poppyfield staff will have the opportunity to connect and collaborate with specialist professionals to help identify the needs of each child in the school.
Head teacher Suzy is looking forward to seeing the school ethos develop, as well as the pupils getting the most out of their education as Poppyfield continues to grow.