Construction has started on the UK’s first ‘secure school’, a custodial facility aimed at providing young offenders with an education.
The school, which will be run by education provider Oasis Restore rather than the Prison Service, will see young offenders go straight from the courtroom to the classroom.
Based on the site of the now closed Medway Secure Training Centre in Kent, the new facility will be laid out like a school inside the prison walls.
The staff will be trained to offer a broad curriculum and offer one-to-one learning support, and they will set targets in core academic subjects such as English and mathematics.
Ofsted inspectors will hold the ‘secure school’ to the same standards as other schools.
Deputy prime minister, Lord Chancellor & Secretary of State for Justice, Dominic Raab MP, said: ‘This secure school is a first. It’s effectively a school with prison walls around it that will give the stubborn hard core of young offenders, who need to be in custody, the tailored curriculum and mental health support they need to turn away from crime and get into training and work.’
Since 2012 the number of children in custody has fallen from around 2,000 in 2012 to around 500. These young offenders are around 50% more likely to reoffend than adult offenders.
Around eight in 10 prolific adult offenders also begin committing crimes as children, with the estimated cost to the taxpayer around £17bn per year.
The Rev Steve Chalke, founder of Oasis, said: ‘For too long society has bought into the idea that punishing young people will somehow benefit them. All the research shows this does not work. You can’t help a child by harming them. You can’t take children who have been wounded psychological and somehow hope that punishment will heal them. Then, when you release them, wonder why so many reoffend.
‘Oasis is not trying to ignore a young person’s crime, or to minimise the pain of their victim and family. But, it’s time for a revolution in youth justice. And, we’re excited that Oasis Restore – the country’s first secure school – with an emphasis on therapeutic care, education and positive settlement into life beyond our gates, which enables them to thrive – will be that revolution.’
