Attractive purpose built accommodation

The Shires is a listed building that is set in beautiful woodland with extensive outside areas where students can work and relax. The school is close to the A1 and is easily accessible by car and public transport.

The building has been totally refurbished and renovated and provides high quality residential and educational facilities. Students are encouraged to personalise their rooms with their own belongings and their bedrooms afford them privacy and personal space.

Shared areas are bright, airy and cheerful, and are very well maintained so that they are always clean and well organised. Students take their meals together in the dining room, and in the evenings and at weekends, watch TV and play games in the comfortable lounge.

The students have direct access to four safe and secure outside paved and/or grassed play areas, two of which have a swing set and one of which has a safe trampoline. The wooded areas of the grounds are used imaginatively in the summer months for picnics, camping, and barbecues.

In the next stage of the school’s development, a purpose built workshop will enable students to learn woodworking skills, and planned activities in the greenhouse and conservatory will encourage students to grow plants and vegetables, which they will sell to the school kitchen and others as part of their work related learning programme.

Accommodation and facilities

The pupils are accommodated in single or double rooms and each bedroom includes robust but very attractive furniture. The toilets, bathroom and shower areas have high quality non-slip floors and fully tiled walls. The pupils' social and dining areas are friendly, comfortable and inviting with space for pupils to play games as well as giving them access to games, books, puzzles and TV. Pupils have access to a 'soft room' for quiet reflection, a 'light room' comprising a darkened room filled with a variety of coloured light displays, and a large soft play area with light displays and music.