Private school bought by Dorset Council opens to pupils

A former private school, bought by Dorset Council for £10m, has reopened for children with special educational needs.

The local authority purchased the St Mary's School site, near Shaftesbury, which closed last year.

Now called Coombe House it will provide schooling for children with autism, emotional and mental health issues.

Once fully operational it will be able to accommodate up to 280 children, with 200 staff.

Dorset Council has spent the last year upgrading the 55-acre site to meet Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) requirements in preparation for the first intake of 50 pupils.

Further work is planned over the next 18 months.

Mark Blackman, chief operating officer for the Dorset Centre for Excellence, said: "We really want the young people involved in this project from the ground up.

"They'll be pathfinders really, telling us how they'd like to see the site develop.

"We've got a 55-acre site, 165,000 square feet of buildings, we've only converted 25-30% of that so far, so we've got a lot still to go."

Mr Blackman said the school would draw children from across the Dorset Council area but may well branch out into the broader county over time.

The council had identified the need for around 500 additional SEND places as part of a £37.5 million investment in education, he added.

Headteacher Katie Charles said she believed the school would help children "flourish and find their future paths".

Currently, independent provision, sometimes out of county, costs about £60,000 a year per child, whereas provision at one of Dorset's own special schools costs about £22,000, the council said.

The site was formerly home to St Mary's School, an independent Catholic boarding and day school, founded in 1945. It taught girls aged nine to 18.

Former pupils included art curator Laura Lopes, daughter of the Duchess of Cornwall.

Follow BBC South on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].