As we approach the end of our first year of opening, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the students, staff, parents, and our partner schools for their continued support in making Blackpool FC School a success. Over this past year, we have been fully supported by local schools and have made great strides in supporting some of the most vulnerable young people in the town, offering them full-time education in a safe and supported environment.
It fills me with great pride to see the way our students have made progress throughout the year and how far they have grown academically, socially, and emotionally.
As a school, we are passionate about embedding strong foundations and values for all our students’ future achievements and success. We recognise that every student is an individual and celebrate this through personalised, inspiring authentic learning experiences. Our aim is to offer young people a chance to shine through a very hands-on holistic approach to teaching the curriculum. With this in mind, we have been on several educational trips to support the curriculum such as the National War Museum, the National Football Museum, and the Museum of Science and Industry as well as tailor-made enrichment trips to the Pleasure beach and more as part of rewarding progress and positive behaviours.
We entered our students into the school’s very first competition as part of the Blackpool youth games. The students were a credit to the school throughout the competition and finished in 3rd position out of a total of seven schools.
All our students attended a work experience placement in July helping them gain a taste of professions they are interested in, raise aspirations, and enable them to explore their own strengths and weaknesses. From this experience, two students have been given a weekend job working in the kitchens at Blackpool football club, two students have also been offered long-term work experience in a local primary school and four students have an apprenticeship lined up in construction when they leave school.
One student said,
“I have really enjoyed this year. At first, I didn’t like being away from my friends at school so didn’t enjoy being here, however, I can see how this school has helped me to improve my behaviour and got me to focus on my qualifications so I’m happy I came here now.”
One parent stated that they are so proud of their child,
“he’s so excited about his future now, thank you for being such an amazing inspiration and keeping him safe.”
Throughout the academic year, students had an opportunity to have their names placed into a draw to win a Blackpool FC signed shirt. They would gain entries as a reward for positive actions, such as 100% attendance, working well in class and respecting each other and staff. throughout the year. All the staff at BFC school and Blackpool FC Community Trust would like to congratulate Cody Irvine for winning student of the year 2022.
