Councillors being kept 'in the dark' about Coombe House School

The claim comes from Liberal Democrat opposition leader of the council, Nick Ireland, who also says that councillors are being kept in the dark about the situation.

The school opened briefly on May 16th and within two weeks was closed again with staff claiming since then that some situations at the school have been dangerous, including allegations of a pupil throwing rocks at them and problems with some aspects of the building.

A meeting of the board of trustees for the school was held last week – but closed to the press and public within five minutes with no indication of why the rest of the meeting was being held as exempt business.

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Cllr Ireland said that the school, which the council describe as “A Centre of Excellence”, for children with special educational needs has since been re-opened for pupila, although on a restricted basis.

Nick Ireland Oct W&S

The Conservative run Dorset Council bought the former private school for around £10million to provide extra capacity in the county for SEND children and has since spent an undisclosed sum on building work and staffing.

Said Cllr Ireland, who represents Owermoigne: “The business case said that it would open in September 2021, taking students early 2022 however the school was late taking in pupils and has since been mired in problems.

“We have been asking for information and papers to come forward so the issues on the site can be considered by elected members of the council, but little has been forthcoming. We are firm believers in transparency and when something goes wrong to own up to it and learn from it. This is not happening with the Coombe House School, which is worrying as it could be interpreted that Dorset Council has something to hide.

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“We are being given scant information and some of our emails are not even being responded to”.

Stella Jones Jan 2021

Dorchester councillor Stella Jones, Shadow Portfolio Holder for Children and a former teacher who continues to work with families in need, said: “The children attending this school are some of the most vulnerable young people in Dorset. These children need stability, and it was hoped that when Dorset Council placed them in Coombe House, that is what they would be getting. We are also told repeatedly by Dorset Council that they cherish the children in their care. On both counts I have yet to be convinced that Dorset Council is doing what it set out to achieve and I see no evidence of a plan to rectify the situation.”

Dorset Council has recently said that the problems reported at the school amount to teething difficulties and are on the way to being resolved.