FORMER staff members of Shapwick School near Bridgwater which closed last month are already planning to open a new school in Sedgemoor.

There was shock in March as the independent Shapwick School which educated children aged eight to 18 with dyslexia and other learning-related difficulties closed after 45 years following reports of protracted financial difficulties.

However now, less than a month down the line, former staff are setting up a new school in Ashcott which will be called The Levels School.

Bradley Middleton was one of the former staff members at Shapwick instrumental in setting up the new school.

Mr Middleton said: "We had a number of options but a lovely site was found in Ashcott which has the potential to tick all of our boxes.

"We have secured (subject to planning) the beautiful site of Etonhurst for our school premises.

"This historic site has ample space for classrooms, a therapy suite and offices, in addition to stunning grounds and a tennis court for students to enjoy.

"We wanted to take the best aspects of what was done at Shapwick and add even better curriculum provision, create a strong partnership between staff, pupils and parents with clear lines of communication in all directions, to put the pupils at the forefront of everything we do to allow our children and young adults to become well rounded citizens who are employable in future job markets and who people are interested in being around."

Mr Middleton worked at Shapwick for around 10 years as a sports coach and in student support roles.

He said the team decided on The Levels School as a name due to the site's proximity to the Somerset Levels.

"Symbolically it represents new beginnings, nurture, growth, health, creativity, courage and compassion which we felt summed up many of the qualities of that we wanted to instil in our pupils or how we would help them develop those qualities," Mr Middleton said.

The school will have a maximum capacity of 100 pupils from Years 4 to 11 in the short term.

"This allows for a smooth transition between Key Stage 2 and sitting their exams at the end of Key Stage 4," Mr Middleton said.

Reflecting on the sudden closure of Shapwick and how the plan to create a new school came about, Mr Middleton said: "A lot of staff were devastated that the school closed like it did because it left our pupils in a very precarious position.

"Many were part way through their GCSE courses, Year 9 pupils had just chosen their options and many new pupils had just settled back to education after poor experiences in other schools or long periods out of school.

"Key Stage 2 pupils were particularly hit has many would have had to consider moving to large senior schools with no transition or support, once you have found a school that fits it is then difficult to start again in a completely new environment with unfamiliar teachers."

Mr Middleton said staff felt their must be something they could do to help pupils and other children around Somerset.

He said: "I am dyslexic myself and can fully understand how the anxiety of the school closure due to the suddenness of it and not being able to say a proper goodbye to their favourite teachers and therapists would have on them.

"I rang a number of teachers and therapists who I thought might be able to help establish a new school as well as a number of friends, family and contacts who had the skill set and aptitude to help the vision become a reality.

"Thankfully we were able to get a core group of staff with complementary skills and experiences and together we started to develop structures and policies and make the vision come to light.

"The staff involved so far are the ones that many enjoyed being taught by, who related to pupils with empathy and consistent even handedness and believed in my vision.

"As the realisation of The Levels School becomes more concrete, we will look to recruit more staff either from Shapwick or beyond to ensure our pupils get the best possible education."

Mr Middleton said a lot of work had been done behind the scenes by a dedicated team of professionals without being able to meet face to face due to social distancing measures and the back drop of the coronavirus.

"It has become a labour of love as this has been done so far completely voluntarily and without any payment at all," Mr Middleton said.

"We are now just waiting for official DfE approval and we can then move onto the second phase of the plan and are aiming to welcome children to the school as soon as the autumn term starts or whenever schools are allowed to reopen, whichever is sooner."

For more information visit thelevelsschool.co.uk.