Friends of Collett

The Collett School for Special Educational Needs The Collett School is a “very” special school attended by children from all over Hertfordshire. Our children have many syndromes including Down's and 50% of our children have Autism. Two of our pupils have very rare diagnosis, one who is one of only two in the world and another who is one of only six in the world. Almost half of our children are under Great Ormond Street Hospital. Nearly 50% of our pupils come from financially disadvantaged backgrounds; many are in care or fostered. We are the only SEN school in Hertfordshire who cater for 4 to 17 year olds and one of the lowest funded. 93% of our Local Authority funding is used for the necessary high ratio of staff leaving 7% to cover everything from loo rolls to books. Therefore even necessities at the school are a fundraising issue. DISABLED ACCESS The school was built in 1964 and the children that then attended would now be in a mainstream school with support. The children now attending have much more complex diagnosis. The school is built on a hill and whilst the site is beautiful it has steps throughout. Although none of our children attend due to physical disability many of them are either in wheelchairs or have mobility challenges. We fundraised last year to replace the many and broken steps into the front entrance so that those with mobility challenges could enter the front of the school for the first time in 50 years! This was difficult as many funders viewed this work as a statutory requirement but there was no Local Authority money available. We are now fundraising to replace some of the steps inside the school with lifts to make more of the school accessible. Our children are already disadvantaged by their disabilities and over half by their financially situations. We want to do all we can to insure they have as many opportunities as their mainstream counterparts with a focus on their abilities not their disabilities.