College to get new lease of life
by the staff of the East Cleveland Advertiser
REDUNDANT school buildings on Teesside are about to be given a new lease of life in a scheme to bring virtual learning to a community.
Plans for a community learning centre have been announced as part of the £432,000 scheme.
The investment will transform soon-to-be redundant schools buildings at the Freebrough Community College site, in Skelton.
The college has just been allocated £357,000 from the national Learning and Skills Council after a successful bid by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's adult learning service.
Building work is expected to start at the end of the year, converting the school's music block and changing rooms into a training kitchen for cookery classes. Three classrooms will also be converted which will be used for daytime and evening courses.
The fully-fitted kitchen will hold 14 learners and will also be a virtual learning environment.
Students will be able to log on to the internet and have access to the classroom from their computers.
The council's cabinet member for education, Coun Steve Kay, said: "This will be a fantastic facility for East Cleveland. We are convinced it will be a focus for all the community, perfectly placed alongside the Youth and Community Centre and the sports hall.
"We have waited a long time for this scheme to become a reality and I am particularly pleased that we can now progress the project. I'm sure the community will agree."
John Harris, the council's head of adult learning, added: "We're going to have a state-of-the-art, well-equipped learning facility for East Cleveland.
"It will be exclusively for adult and community learning, focusing particularly on courses linked to tourism and hospitality, hence the cookery and catering courses.
"Our research has also told us there is a need for family learning opportunities and we will have close links with Freebrough Community College, hoping to run activities that will capture the imagination of parents."
Meanwhile, work on the college's new £16m community college in Brotton is on course, with doors expected to open in January.
