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"It's giving our students opportunities I'd have no chance of giving them in a small secondary school" - Rob Sherington, Holbrook High.

The SWISS centre - the name sounds a little clinical, but it's much better than the mouthful that is the South West Ipswich & South Suffolk Centre. The new education centre for 14-19 year olds would be built in Ipswich near the Copdock/Tesco interchange on land between London Road and Scrivener Drive. The building wouldΜύ cost around Β£50million.

Aside from the acronym, what's being planned will change sixth form provision drastically for schools and colleges in and around Ipswich. Westbourne, Chantry, Claydon and Thurleston will lose their sixth forms.

Suffolk County Council says the SWISS centre would be a state-of-the-art learning centre shared between 19 institutions including seven high schools.

14-16 year olds would still still be members of their high school, but they'd take their vocational classes at the new centre with new classmates.

Pay attention to the head

Chris Edwards is the head at Westbourne Sports College, which is one of the schools which would lose its own sixth form. He says it's a price well worth paying: "This whole project came from the schools and the head teachers, and we pat ourselves on the back for daring to consider, right from the start, losing our own sixth forms in our own buildings for the benefit of our students.

"Normally, you get someone coming along and saying 'we're going to change things, we're going to close the sixth forms'. This has come from the schools themselves."

Holbrook High doesn't have a sixth form and its headteacher Rob Sherington says it means his students can go to a Suffolk sixth form which isn't in another school and students over 14 years old will have far more vocational courses to look at.

"The new centre would offer things like construction, engineering, hair and beauty, as well as GCSE courses like psychology which it's impossible for a small institution to do. So the breadth of choice for my 14 to 16 years will be massively increased" said Mr Sherington.

The SWISS set up

The bulk of the funding for the SWISS Centre would be from the government's Learning & Skills Council. Staff will still belong to their original school, but could teach at the new venue. Governors would also be drawn from the existing schools.

Artist's impression of the SWISS Centre

Students would be able to do A/S levels, A levels, Applied and Vocational Learning, the International Baccalaureate, Special Educational Needs courses and other 14-16 year old provision.

Unanswered questions and job cuts?

However, some of the teachers' unions fear there could be job losses and confusion. Martin Goold is the secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) in Suffolk: "They say teachers will be able to work at their existing school and the new place. However, we believe the new SWISS centre would end up poaching the best teachers from the existing schools.

"With A levels moving from schools to one centre it would mean redundancies. It's unclear how teachers can work to both their school headteacher and the head at the new centre and we think the issue of governance is unclear."

Mr Goold added: "It hasn't been thought through and we're concerned about it. There must be a clear and binding consortium arrangement for 14-19 year olds - you have to sort out how to deliver the new curriculum for that age group before you decide what sort of schools you have."

Mr Goold said the NUT believes that existing high school sixth forms do work: "The very best A level results are at schools where there are large established sixth forms. Also, when a school has a sixth form, it attracts teachers who want to teach A levels and that has a knock-on effect in the quality of teaching younger pupils at the school."

Construction is underway, July 2009

He dismisses the idea that the SWISS centre is the only way to improve practical education for children across this corner of Suffolk.

"The investment really needs to be put into Year 10 (14-15 year olds) vocational education in the existing high schools."

"That will reduce the rate of drop-out among those children who aren't going to get grades A-C at GCSE. It's a very important age for non-academic children."

Further reading

Public consultation on the project includes information sessions at all the affected schools ending at Chantry High, Ipswich on 7 February 2008. Visit the Suffolk County Council website for full details of the sessions, consultation process and for the full proposals.

If all goes to plan, the gates at the SWISS Centre could open in 2010.