THE head of a new school destined for Crewe says it will fill the big gap in provision for children with special educational and mental health needs.

Emma Colley will oversee the Axis Academy, which welcomes its first pupils on Friday at a temporary base in Warmingham. The main school, which is still being built on the site of the former Lodgefields Primary School in Crewe, is due to open in January.

But staff started yesterday to prepare the temporary site at The Stables in Warmingham Road, three miles north of Crewe, in readiness for an initial roll call of 32 pupils, aged from four to 16.

The new head teacher says that there is such a demand for SEMH (Social, emotional and mental health needs) and SEND (Special educational needs) places in Cheshire East that the Youth Engagement Schools Trust, which manages the school, applied to the Department of Education for an early opening, rather than wait until next year.

"The Stables was a former school so it is fit for purpose. We have been kitting it out with furniture and we are starting with a small cohort of children which will rise to 40 in a couple of years," said Ms Colley.

"We have a focus on children with mental health difficulties – it's pretty groundbreaking as there are not many schools that have that. We are very excited about opening our doors to vulnerable children who are unable to access education in many other places."

The Axis head says many of her new pupils have fallen through the cracks in the system and often their psychological needs may have not been catered for.

But the Axis's philosophy for personal-centred education is aimed at making the school experience as personally tailored as possible for each pupil. Its mission statement states it will provide the "right environment for all to succeed, while allowing them to understand and address the nature of specific mental health needs".

The children, who will all have an Educational Health and Care Plan (ECHP), are taught how to build resilience and develop coping strategies while learning.

"These pupils may have been with the (Cheshire East's) Medical Needs Team or they've had one-to-one tutorials in the past, but this will be life changing for them because our school is a lot smaller than a mainstream school," explained the head teacher.

"We have got a mental health counsellor on site and the ratio of staff to children is a lot higher than would be the case normally. There will be a great deal of support for them. There hasn't been the provision to deal with these children previously so they can go to school and have their emotional wellbeing catered for."

The school is part of a programme being developed by Cheshire East education chiefs to increase places for children with special educational needs and disabilities. Previously, many pupils were forced to make long journeys to and from school and many were taught outside of the borough.

The Axis Academy is one of two schools opening in the Crewe area this week catering for pupils with mental health needs. The other, Lavender Field School, is based on the site of Lincoln House, a former specialist dementia/respite care home in Samuel Street.

It has places for up to 50 pupils, with a potential expansion to 75 by September 2021.

Building work at the Axis Academy's future site has carried on through the pandemic and when completed the new two-storey building will include a gym, a calm room as well as design and tech teaching facilities.