Katie Charles has been appointed as the Headteacher of Dorset Council’s new school for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
The new school is a cornerstone of the Dorset Centre of Excellence project which is taking shape on the former St Mary’s School site in Shaftesbury. It is in a development phase with fantastic facilities being created to improve the lives of Dorset children with SEND, and to reduce future costs.
It will open in 2022, with an initially small cohort of children, which will grow to around 280 students over the next five years.
Katie has worked as a professional scientist and most recently in education. She joins Dorset Council from just across the border in Wiltshire, having had experience of both mainstream and special education during her career.
Katie is looking forward to welcoming the students. She said: “I can’t wait to see students enjoying their learning at this wonderful site. Our new school is part of a family of amazing special schools in Dorset and I look forward to joining them in providing even more high quality education provision to meet growing needs.”
Cllr Andrew Parry, Dorset Council Portfolio Holder for Children, Education and Early Help, said: “I am delighted to welcome Katie to the team.
“We seized the opportunity in April 2021 to create this new SEND school for Dorset and I am proud we’ve come so far in such a short time. These are exciting times for education in Dorset and we are determined to make the county the best place in which to grow up.
“Our ambitious vision of investing in this new school will reduce spending in the longer term because it costs so much more to send a child away for private specialist educational provision.
“It also helps to make sure that our children with special educational needs and/or disabilities have all the training, education and support they need to live as independently as possible as they become adults.”
The Dorset Centre of Excellence will also offer training and courses, making use of state-of-the-art facilities, including provision for arts, culture, music and sport.
The school will be recruiting staff as it grows. Jobs will be advertised on the Dorset Council Jobs website in the coming weeks.
Dorset Council took the step of securing the extensive site to meet the growing need for more high-quality special education provision. The new school is part of the council’s wider £37.5 million plan to improve the lives of Dorset children with SEND. More provision is also being created at existing special and mainstream schools.
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Delighted that Dorset CC are investing so much in your SEND programmes. St Mary’s was such a happy and productive place for so many girls over time and I am sure this positive atmosphere will continue and grow with the new cohort of children and families that will now benefit from this exciting venture. Congratulations to the new head, Katie Charles, and I trust she will be as happy there as so many of the previous heads have been!
May I add the congratulations of all members of the Shaftesbury Old Girls Association who will be delighted at this appointment. We feel sure that Katie Charles will be a worthy successor to the many female distinguished Heads that have gone before her. We wish her all the best for the future.
I am delighted to read this news about the appointment of Katie Charles to the new school for SEND. I am a former member of the school and one of the sisters of The Congregation Of Jesus who spent very happy years at St. Marys from 1982 -97. Congratulations to Katie and you can be assured of the former community’s support and prayers for this new venture in a building which has given so much joy and education since 1945.