New 'Palace Class' Opens at Addington Valley Academy
Last week, we were thrilled to have a brand-new classroom named in our honour at Addington Valley Academy in Croydon - affectionately known as 'Palace Class’!
Addington Valley Academy is a co-educational special needs school specialising in autism and complex needs and addresses the social communication, cognitive, sensory and social, emotional, and behavioural needs of pupils aged 2 – 19 based in Croydon.
Our expert disability coaches have been delivering a weekly football session to students from Year 7 all the way up to Sixth Form for over a year now, and in recognition of our successful partnership, the school got in touch with us recently to say they wanted to open up a classroom named after us, called ‘Palace Class’!
Michael Harrington (Palace for Life Disability Manager) and Jack Lucas (Vice Principal of Curriculum at Addington Valley) opening the Palace Class
Michael Harrington, Palace for Life’s Disability Manager said:
“It’s really important for us to be in schools like New Addington Valley and to be able to run the sessions that we do. We pride ourselves on the partnership we have s with schools and other organisations in the local community, and to be invited in to open up a classroom named after us in recognition of the close work between us and the school is fantastic!
It’s a great reflection of the work our coaches do in the school and is a great reflection on our standing in the local community too.”
Jack Lucas, Assistant Principal for Curriculum at New Addington Valley added:
“One of our staff members has done a lot of work with Palace and we get coaches in to do lots of activities with the kids. We think because of all that effort the coaches have come together and done, we wanted to appreciate that and show we really value what Crystal Palace has brought to the school.”
An Addington Valley weekly football session in full swing
We’re thrilled to have had the chance to open up Palace Class and look forward to delivering more sessions in the school, including a new, girls-only Dance Club, which will begin in the coming weeks!
For more information on our Disability Sport sessions, head here.