Culverhill School in Yate is celebrating after being awarded ‘specialist’ status by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
Culverhill School, a special educational needs school for 130 pupils with complex learning difficulties has become a Specialist SEN College with expertise in communication and interaction.
The school will share its expertise and good practice with other similar schools, and as a result will also receive £100k to spend on a new communication and training suite; and £180k spread over three years which will go towards training and disability awareness initiatives in conjunction with other schools and the community, new ICT equipment and additional speech and language therapy support for pupils at the school who have communication difficulties.
Headteacher Nicki Jones said: “We are thrilled to be awarded specialist college status which means that the Department for Children, Schools and Families has recognised the excellent work that the school has been doing and now want us to share our expertise with other schools and community partners.”
Nicki added: “We are grateful to the charities Wooden Spoon and the Rachel Charitable Trust, as well as the school’s PTA, for raising the necessary private sponsorship to make the bid possible.”
Councillor Sheila Cook, executive member for children and young people, said: “I would like to congratulate Culverhill School on becoming a specialist college. It will bring benefits to the school, other schools will be able to learn good practice from it and reflects the dedication of staff and hard work of pupils.”
Specialist schools are part of national plans to raise standards in secondary education. The ‘Specialist Schools Programme’ helps schools establish distinctive identities through their chosen specialisms.
Source: South Gloucestershire Council
