Check out this video showing what our new building on the Connell Campus should look like! This is where Belle Vue will be for 2021-2022 before we move to our permanent home on Hyde Road.
Lots of lovely classroom space as well as great outdoor areas for break times, PE lessons and after-school clubs.
The building will welcome our new Year 7s in September 2021!
We are very excited to share the proposed designs for our future home on Hyde Road.
This week Mr Barker met with the architects and Manchester Council to have a first look at what our new school could look like.
“It was very exciting to see some images of what our new school will look like in the planning meeting. Our first year of students are lucky they will get not one, but two brand new buildings in as many years.
I am certain that it will be a central part of the local area. The new school will have plenty to offer not only our pupils but the community as a whole. We are looking forward to sharing more videos and images with you as we get them from the design team.”
It is fantastic to officially part of the Co-op Academies family, starting at Belle Vue last week. I hope you all had a restful break and New Year and are staying safe in these challenging times.
I am looking forward to sharing with you all the fantastic plans that are being put into place for your new school that will open in September this year. Having been part of meetings with designers, builders, architects and the Co-op Academies Trust. I am excited to be able to open the doors to our new intake of year sevens, into what will be one of the top schools in the North West.
If you have any questions about the school, how to apply or would like more information, please don’t hesitate to contact us at bellevue@coopacademies.co.uk.
Working closely with the architects I will soon be sharing artist 3D renders, photos and images, of what our new school will look like. It will take Belle Vue to the next level, where it will become a hub for the community, local business and the young leaders of tomorrow.
Thank you for being so welcoming in my first few weeks, I am looking forward to meeting you all in person when we can safely do so and together we can help build Co-op Academy Belle Vue.
We invited Year 6 pupils from our local primary schools to help us design our first ever Christmas card and win a special treat!
We had some amazing entries, and we are very happy to announce our winner and runners-up…
The winner is Maira from Stanley Grove!
Our Runners-up are…
Hello local primaries!
The competition is open to all Year 6 pupils of our local primary schools. Designs must be given to your class teacher by Wednesday 9th December.
One lucky winner will be selected on Monday 14th December by our panel of judges.
The winning design will feature on our digital Christmas cards and the winner will receive a Christmas hamper to take home!
We’re excited to announce that our new Head of School is Benjamin Barker.
Previously Vice Principal at King’s Warrington, we are looking forward to welcoming him to Co-op Academies Trust in January 2021.
A message from our new Head of School, Mr Barker-
I am incredibly excited to join the Co-op Academies Trust as Belle Vue’s Head of School.
Having been part of an incredibly successful startup free school in the North West, I have seen first hand what great outcomes can be achieved when a school, it’s staff, students, and the local community work together to help raise the leaders of tomorrow.
My vision is to inspire a new generation of high achieving, aspirational, skilled, and confident young people who fully understand and appreciate how a co-operative approach will prepare and enable them to play their part in the changing global society.
I am a firm believer that all students can achieve highly, no matter what their circumstances. As a school, we will lay the academic and moral foundations for pupils go on to future successes and to make positive contributions to their community. Helping them to shape their own futures and positively impact their lives and the lives of those around them.
I am looking forward to joining the trust in January and welcoming our class of 2026 in September.
“There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” – Nelson Mandela
We are very happy to share that our temporary accommodation will be at Connell Co-op College for 2021 -2023.
This means that our students will benefit from the world class facilities at Connell and be part of an established campus.
Though our stay at Connell Co-op College will be temporary, the building will be permanent. This means that students will feel safe and supported during their 2 years there.
This is an artist’s impression of what the new building will look like.
Last week Manchester City Council confirmed that the future site of Co-op Academy Belle Vue will be on the former site of the Showcase Cinema on Hyde Road in Belle Vue.
We are already accepting applications for our first cohort of Year 7s, but will eventually take in 1,200 pupils.
They will be taught in temporary accommodation until the new school building, which local kids will help design, is opened in 2023.
Councillor Garry Bridges, the city council’s Executive Member for Children and Schools, said: “Co-op Academies Trust have a good track record of operating schools in Manchester and elsewhere and it’s great news that they’re going to be at the helm of this much-needed brand new school in this part of the city.
“Pupil numbers are set to continue to rise across Manchester and we’re already working closely with schools and others on this, and have detailed plans in place to ensure we have the right number of places in the right locations to meet this growing demand.
“Our children and young people deserve the best education, delivered in the best buildings, and this is what we’re determined to ensure they get.”
Chris Tomlinson, chief executive of Co-op Academies Trust, said: “We’re determined to create a school that will be a beacon of both educational and environmental standards.
A ‘free school’ is the term used to describe a new school that is opening. The school will be an academy, meaning that it is governed by a Trust.
The Department of Education requires all new schools to consult with local residents, groups and businesses prior to opening.
We always love hearing from our local communities and encourage you to complete the survey below.
Co-op Academies Trust – which already operates 26 schools and colleges across the north of England including in north Manchester – has been chosen by the DFE, working in partnership with the council, to run the new 1200-place co-educational secondary school for pupils aged 11-16.
Co-op Academy Belle Vue will see its first intake of pupils next September 2021 when 120 pupils will be admitted into Year 7. The school will continue to admit pupils into Year 7 each successive year until it reaches full capacity with students in each year group by 2027.
The school’s brand new building is expected to open to pupils in September 2023. Until then pupils will be based in temporary accommodation in the local area – the location of which is currently being finalised.
The establishment of a new school serving this area of the city is part of the council’s masterplan to ensure there are enough school places across Manchester to meet the rising number of pupils coming through the system over the next few years – which is a result of the city’s continued population growth.
An additional 1760 Year 7 high school places have already been created across the city since 2015 through the permanent expansion of existing schools, creating temporary ‘bulge’ classes, and the opening of new schools. As this growth progresses through the secondary phase it will see a total of 7960 new places taken up by pupils.
The council continues to work with schools, academy trusts and the Department for Education to secure sufficient school places for future academic years.
Councillor Garry Bridges, Executive Member for Children and Schools, Manchester City Council, said: “Co-op have a good track record of operating schools in Manchester and elsewhere and it’s great news that they’re going to be at the helm of this much-needed brand new school in this part of the city.
“Pupil numbers are set to continue to rise across Manchester and we’re already working closely with schools and others on this, and have detailed plans in place to ensure we have the right number of places in the right locations to meet this growing demand. Our children and young people deserve the best education, delivered in the best buildings, and this is what we’re determined to ensure they get.”
The Co-op Academies Trust is committed to making the new school as environmentally friendly as possible and plans to involve pupils in the design of the building.
Chris Tomlinson, CEO of Co-op Academies Trust, said: “We’re determined to create a school that will be a beacon of both educational and environmental standards.
“We’re a vibrant Trust that provides an engaging, inspiring and innovative curriculum, underpinned by Co-op values and principles, that equips young people with the skills, knowledge, understanding and qualifications they need to make a success of their lives.
“Inspired by the Co-op’s 1 Angel Square in central Manchester, which is one of the greenest offices in the world, we want to engage local year 5 and 6 pupils in the design of the new school and explore with them what environmentally responsible elements can be incorporated into it.”
Parents and carers of pupils currently in Year 6 at primary school will be able to include Co-op Academy Belle Vue in their list of preferred schools when they make their application for their child’s secondary school place. This application process is now open and the deadline for parents and carers to apply for a secondary school place is 31 October.
