Ambitious plans for a multi-million state-of-the-art campus, concerning Ardrossan Academy and James McFarlane School, is to be considered for the Three Towns.

Elected members will be asked to approve a council bid seeking to secure between £22.5m and £28.5m in Scottish Government funding to create a community-centred educational campus for pupils with complex needs.

The campus would bring together pupils from Ardrossan Academy and Auchenharvie Academy in Stevenston and would establish an on-campus centre for pupils with complex needs who currently attend Haysholm School in Irvine and James McFarlane School.

This would allow the council to create a unique purpose-built facility to address the needs of children with complex needs as well as addressing ongoing under-capacity issues at the two secondary schools.

The new campus would allow resources to be targeted towards improving pupils’ education, through a state of the art learning environment and a broader range of opportunities for pupils.

The provision for children with complex needs would provide holistic support for pupils, bringing education, health, social services and voluntary sector support together supporting families to meet the educational, health and social needs of children currently attending Haysholm and James McFarlane schools.

The report to the Cabinet follows an invitation by the Scottish Government to submit applications for the latest phase of funding from Scotland’s Schools for the Future programme. The Scottish Government has set a strict deadline of July 21, 2012 for applications to be submitted.

Should the bid be successful, the council will work closely with staff, pupils, parents and other interested parties to determine the best way forward for this ambitious project – including identifying the location for the campus and ensuring the development caters for the needs of the community.

Do you think a state-of-the-art campus for pupils with complex needs is required? Would it benefit Ardrossan? Let us know here at s1ardrossan.