Devon Live: “New school for children with special needs opens its door in Devon” https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/new-school-children-special-needs-8786056.amp
SW England
To celebrate the opening of a new, custom-built school in Okehampton, Mel Stride, MP for Central Devon and Percy Prowse, Chairperson of Devon County Council, paid a visit to the school to learn about the school’s transformative approach to raising the aspirations of children with social, emotional, and mental health (SEMH) needs.
The Promise School, part of Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust, caters for children aged four to 16 providing much need specialised support, and enhancing the pastoral services already offered by the trust. The school will serve up to 100 of pupils from across the town and wider Dartmoor area….
The school was commissioned in response to a clear need in the local area for a new school that could effectively cater for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Its location was chosen to specifically address the lack of special school provision in the west Devon area, which in turn will help to reduce journey times for vulnerable pupils….
Dan Morrow, CEO of Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust, said: “We are so excited to see the Promise School’s new site open to students and staff alike. With the opening of this new, custom-built campus, we are able to be able to continue to make a real difference to the lives of even more children in the community with SEMH needs….
Councillor Lois Samuel, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member with responsibility for services that support children and young people with specialist educational needs and disabilities, said: “This is yet another example of Devon County Council's continued significant investment in specialist educational provision in local communities, reducing the need for some children and young people to travel distances to access quality learning that meets their individual needs.
“Personally, as local Devon County Councillor for Okehampton, I am also especially pleased to have the new school in our local community. In helping to bring this project forward, we have worked hard across the whole of the council to secure the land, source the funding, delivering the building and to bring in a local sponsor.
