CHILDREN TO BENEFIT FROM SOCIETY’S DONATION TO DOROTHY GOODMAN SCHOOL

The Building Society has donated £150 to the Dorothy Goodman School in Hinckley for activities such as visits to local shops, other outings or buying ingredients for cookery classes to help the children experience everyday activities and provide opportunities to develop their personal and social skills.

Hinckley and Rugby responded to a request for help from parents who have formed the Friends of Dorothy Goodman School group with an aim to support the children and school by gaining class sponsorship to help pay for activities within the community.

Mr Tony Smith, Headteacher at Dorothy Goodman School, said: “This kind of support really does make a difference because it allows us to buy things that we could not otherwise afford.”

Mr Smith explained: “We are a school for children with severe learning difficulties, and that covers a very wide range of needs. Some children simply have learning difficulties which means that our job is to find ways of helping them to learn and make educational progress. Some of our children have very serious medical conditions and so for those youngsters we have to provide a high level of care as well as education. Many of our children have autism – 11 at the moment – and those youngsters need very specialised approaches, including a significant amount of one-to-one attention from key staff.”

He added: “Because of all this we do have to provide a wide range of very specialised equipment – which is often expensive. And we have to pay for a wide range of experiences and trips out into the community. Only this way can we give our pupils access to the first-hand experiences that they need, and the opportunities to develop their personal and social skills, which are so important for them.”

Most pupils at the school are from the Hinckley area and surrounding towns and villages. The donation from Hinckley and Rugby sponsors a class of 10 pupils aged between 11 and 14-years-old.