Redgate is a specialist 56 place school for children aged 3-11 with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). A large proportion of our pupils have autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and moderate or severe learning disabilities (MLD/SLD).

Our aim is to inspire, raise aspirations and make a difference to every pupil’s life, not just academically but also emotionally, spiritually and socially. Our core values of empower, respect and care are the foundation of everything we do alongside our Redgate ways of caring, sharing and learning together. Our pupils access a broad, challenging and relevant curriculum that will enrich their lives and prepare them for the future.

A key life skill for our pupils is accessing the community. The majority of our pupils are immersive learners and need to experience to understand. Here we can broaden their life experiences whether it be doing some shopping for an activity they have researched and made a list for, accessing a public space or visiting an establishment. Some families find it difficult to take their child out and about, especially if there are other siblings also needing supervision. We can teach pupils appropriate behaviour on transport, stranger danger and basic general safety, by taking them out.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, pupils took part in a range of activities, including visits to places of worship, sports events and residential adventure activities. Leaders have ensured that pupils continue to enjoy their ‘forest school’ activities and take part in visits to the local area. Leaders are looking forward to broadening pupils’ experiences again in the coming weeks and months. Our minibus was unrepairable and has been scrapped.

We have been fundraising over the last 13 years towards the next bus and have managed to save £20,000. This leaves us with a shortfall.

This minibus would give us the opportunity to take our children out into the community and fully immerse them in social interactions and daily life within the local area. In being able to do this, it would provide our children with vital skills that they can build on throughout their school career.

The frequency of use would evident how beneficial this piece of equipment would be to our wider curriculum and development of our pupils. Following our most recent Ofsted visit in March 2022 where we achieved a 'Good' rating, we are constantly aiming to improve our curriculum for our pupils. Our Ofsted report concluded that our three curriculum ‘pathways’ do meet pupils’ complex needs. Each pathway provides pupils with a range of ambitious learning opportunities and experiences. In order to continue to maintain our high standards and expectations of our pupils we would relish in the opportunity to increase their experiences outside of school and broaden their school life.

Due to the roll of the school our budget is tight. It allows us to fund the day to day running of the bus but not the purchase. We have explored the cost of a lease and it would cost us per month the cost of maintenance for a year. We will need to provide fuel whichever, making leasing unobtainable for us.