Ivanhoe College says it will welcome its first Year 10 students in August next year following the local 'Age Range Change Programme' as it progresses to become an 11-16 school.

And Ivanhoe, which has been a landmark in the centre of Ashby since 1954, has also announced that work will begin in July on a brand new state of the art Sports Hall and new four classroom block.

This will combine the most up to date eco-friendly building methods alongside cutting edge technology, to make this teaching space a huge asset to all students.

Not only will the College's current Year 8 students have the opportunity to be the first students to progress on to the GCSE programme, but Ivanhoe will also welcome applications from students in the surrounding areas across North West Leicestershire and South Derbyshire.

Current Year 5 students choosing to join Ivanhoe will stay until the end of Year 11.

Ivanhoe will not be drastically increasing its number of students, and so the change to offer KS3 and KS4 subjects will give students the benefit of a more personalised education by creating small year groups.

The school motto is 'A Journey to Excellence' and it says it is is keen to be able to take students right through from Years 7-11 and watch them develop from children to successful young adults.

Ivanhoe staff understand that the secondary years can be tough for some and the College believes that offering 11-16 education in one school will have huge benefits for students, not only academic achievements but also social and well-being benefits.

Mrs Alison Allford, the Headteacher, said: "Working with the same pupils over five years can be an extremely rewarding experience and can lead to better outcomes.

"The journey to GCSE is a five year journey from years 7-11 and we look forward to working with students right through to GCSE.

"As well as providing them with qualifications, Ivanhoe is dedicated to seeing our students leave us as happy, informed, resilient young people ready to make a positive contribution to their world."

The senior leadership team have spent a number of years putting in place the foundations for a successful transition to be able to offer KS4 qualifications, which will include GCSE's alongside vocational qualifications such as BTECs and Cambridge Nationals.

All of Ivanhoe's middle and senior leaders have completed a National Professional Qualification (NPQ) for their career stage, which involves the in-depth study of leadership and management techniques and requires candidates to complete an educational research and impact project.

Their expertise is widely sought by other schools in the area and Ivanhoe is also proud to support other schools across Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire, sharing latest research and driving improvement projects in a range of settings and supporting the work of the national educational research and school improvement body, the Education Endowment Foundation.

There is also have a strong body of expert teachers that have a wealth of experience teaching at Key Stage 4 and beyond, as well as many staff already involved in GCSE examination and moderation.

For example, Assistant Headteacher and design teacher Miss Melissa Konig has been a Senior Team Leader for Edexcel Graphics since 2014, having been an examiner for the board since 2007.

She was also involved in the redesign of Design and Technology for the new GCSE grades 9-1 in recent years and she says: "Having a knowledge of the inner workings of how exams are set and marked has influenced my teaching of pupils of all ages.

"I can help them to recognise key words, and give tips on the best way to structure and present their answers in class – all good practice for sitting exams!"