It is my privilege to introduce myself at the Headteacher of The Dales School in Morton-on-Swale. Having been in post for the last six years I have come to understand only too well the limitations that life and society place upon our pupils, and it is so vital for schools to work closely with families to endeavour to eradicate as many of these barriers as possible to secure the very best outcomes for our wonderful pupils.

The Dales School in Morton on Swale is a special school meeting the complex needs of pupils from the age of 2 - 19. More specifically our pupils present with a range of severe, profound and multiple learning difficulties and disabilities. The funding for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, both nationally and regionally, has not seen any significant increase or been kept in line with the rate of inflation / increased living costs, etc, since the Welfare Reform of 2014.

The funding that schools receive in order to meet the holistic needs of the most complex pupils represents the greatest proportionate shortfall in the national funding formula. As a result of this Local Authority maintained schools such as The Dales School are woefully underfunded. Additionally, 32% of our pupils are considered to be disadvantaged. In spite of this we remain absolutely committed to providing our pupils with a safe, nurturing and engaging learning environment and school experience, with a staff team who maintain a commitment and dedication to all of our pupils, with relationships with pupils and families at the heart of our ethos and culture in school. Some of our pupils have life limiting conditions, very complex health needs and communication and interaction difficulties.

Our pupils benefit from a highly personalised approach to ensure that their holistic needs are met via a broad and balanced curriculum which incorporates these needs to support the very best outcomes for all of our pupils.

In order to ensure that the breadth of the curriculum offer serves to meet the age-appropriate needs of our pupils, and particularly their preparation for adulthood, it is essential that they are able to access off site learning activities in their local community. The very nature of our pupils' complex physical and learning needs often means that public transport is not viable or safe, and so it is vital that we are able to secure transport that facilitates these offsite learning visits. In addition, the local bus service can only accommodate one wheelchair user at any time (and this space may already be taken by a member of the community), and only operates hourly between Northallerton and Bedale, thereby further limiting our access into the local community.

Our fundraising goal is £45,376 which comprises of £42,561.00 (not subject to VAT) from Red Kite Vehicle Consultants Ltd, plus an additional £2,815 which would enable us to purchase a fully accessible wheelchair user minibus, and would also cover the start-up costs.

The start-up costs include:

· Insurance at £765 (this has been quoted with an advisory reminder that costs are likely to increase)

· Driver training for two additional members of staff (we currently have two minibus drivers trained, who provide this facility for the bus that we currently have in shared ownership with the Local Authority, and we require two additional members of staff to be trained to ensure that the whole school cohort can access the provision with appropriately familiar and consistent staff). This has been quoted at £125 per person (MiDAS training) .

· We are also seeking funds to facilitate the initial ‘up and running’ element and have included a petrol fund in our request. This we have set at £1000

· Three annual services – difficult to quantify an exact cost but unlikely to require much maintenance in the first couple of years, and so the anticipated first year cost of servicing would be around £800

Thus far, we have managed to raise £22,747.46 towards this goal. We are therefore seeking a further £22,629. We would be grateful for any contribution towards this target.

We are without any means by which to cover the cost of such an essential facilitator to securing what we consider to be our pupils' absolute entitlement in terms of accessibility, achievement for all and the rites of passage to which all young people are entitled in preparation for adulthood. Our pupils benefit so much from the off-site learning opportunities that we seek to access. The learning opportunities gained from visiting a local farm, making personal choices about hygiene products at the local supermarket, accessing elements of physical exercise and mobility via local providers such as Riding for the Disabled, swimming at the local swimming baths, are all examples of absolutely vital ‘Suitcase for Life’ opportunities that it is our duty and our privilege to support our children and young people to access, yet we do not currently have the means to do so effectively.