Two special schools in Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard have received a large donation from local charity the Connolly Foundation.
Weatherfield Academy currently teaches 154 students from 7-19 years old. The Academy is for young people who find it difficult to maintain progress in mainstream education settings.
Oak Bank school, in Leighton Buzzard caters for more than 100 students who have special needs.
Weatherfield and Oak Bank will be working together to help the most vulnerable young people, by bringing in independent specialists who will provide the skills and expertise needed for their education and in the community. This is needed because, over a number of years, the additional support to pupils from other agencies has faded into an almost non-existent service.
This significant funding has enabled the schools to identify educators, who will bring skills and expertise that are needed and also in the communities and families with whom the schools work.
Already, there has been significant interest from other schools and local authorities about the project.
Both Weatherfield and Oak Bank Academies will also invest to make sure that the funding from The Connolly Foundation enables training for staff, collaboration with other schools and institutions as well as family support to reach into the community with whom they serve.
Joe Selmes, Headteacher of Weatherfield School, said: “The funding from The Connolly Foundation will help to establish in depth support and training throughout the community that we serve, to help our most vulnerable young people develop skills for a successful future.”
