Priti Patel MP with Carolyn Gulleford (left) of the Purposeful Communication Programme for Autism and Adam Dean, Head Teacher designate of the Chatten Free School (right).
Priti meets head of new special needs school opening in Witham in September
On Saturday morning, 12th June, Priti Patel, the Witham MP, had her first meeting with Adam Dean, the Head Teacher of a new special needs school due to open in September. Chatten Free School, which is currently under construction in Rickstones Road, Witham, is dedicated to working with children and young people who are severely affected by autism and social learning difficulties.
At their meeting, held at the Witham Hub meeting room, Adam and Priti, along with Carolyn Gulleford of The Purposeful Communication Programme for Autism, discussed the future of the school and the plans that are in place to create an environment which will make a tangible difference to the lives of pupils with learning difficulties and that will be supportive of their parents. Priti gave the School strong support during the pre-construction phase, keeping the pressure on the local authorities involved to ensure that all the required paperwork was dealt with promptly, to make it possible for it to open in September.
Speaking after the meeting, Priti said: “I was very pleased to finally meet Adam, who is clearly devoted to making Chatten Free School a great success. It will offer much needed support for children with learning difficulties and for their parents. Each child will have highly individual needs and the School will be able to provide a safe environment for them to develop, using a curriculum individually prepared for each one.
“I hope to be able to visit the School in August after the construction has been completed, to meet some of the parents and to see the facilities for myself. I shall be following its progress with great interest. I wish Chatten Free School well with their plans for the future and I will certainly give them every support that I can.”
Chatten Free School’s Head Teacher, Adam Dean said: “It was great to go over our plans for the School with Priti and we are very grateful for the support she has given us over a long period of time. Our primary vision for pupils and families is to provide happiness, independence and respect for all. We want to offer an outstanding, evidence based and fully individualised curriculum for our pupils, who will be supported by experienced professionals and an enthusiastic staff.
“We want our school to be a functional, loving and kind place which is conducive to the effective learning of life, communication and academic skills, which will be essential for our pupils. We also want learning to continue when pupils leave the building, through our family teaching partnership.”
Further information about Chatten Free School is available on their website: www.chattenfreeschool.co.uk.