UK’s first secure school ready to open
Fiona Simpson
Monday, May 20, 2024
The UK’s first secure school is set to open to pupils after four years of delays, the Ministry of Justice has announced.
Oasis Restore, based on the site of the former Medway Secure Training Centre (STC), is run by Oasis Charitable Trust.
Designed to house 49 boys and girls aged 12 to 19, the secure school offers a “new approach to youth justice”, ministers have said.
Oasis Restore is dual registered as a children’s home and an academy and is based on Oasis’s vision is to “transform children’s lives through relationships, discovery and community” from “entry to rehabilitation”.
Young people will stick to a full curriculum made up of “core” subjects including maths, English and science, combined with six-week vocational courses such as technology, cooking and hair and beauty.
Bespoke therapeutic support will also be offered alongside access to state-of-the art facilities including a music studio and performance space.
The design is based on international research which shows that smaller settings, high-quality education and healthcare, overseen by a specialised workforce of teachers and youth workers “are the key to successfully turning the lives of young people in custody around”, according to the MoJ.
The new approach was recommended by the now chief inspector of prisons, Charlie Taylor, who conducted a wholesale review of youth justice while chair of the Youth Justice Board in 2016.
A secure school, on the site of Medway STC, was set to open in December 2020, however, delays due to the scale of renovations needed and the pandemic saw more than four years of delays.
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Alex Chalk, said: “This multi-million-pound investment marks a major step change in our approach to youth detention.
“By prioritising intensive education, this secure school will put the rehabilitation of young offenders front and centre, helping to break the cycle of crime.”
Steve Chalke, founder of Oasis, added: “The core principle behind the secure school and the work of our staff team is an unshakeable commitment to the belief that the only way to create positive change for the young people we serve, as well as to make our streets and communities safer, is to ensure that restoration sits at the very heart of the youth custodial system. That is our privilege and our task.”
Young people are expected to enter the secure school next month (June).
See the June edition of CYP Now for a feature on a tour of the secure school.
