A DORSET headteacher has revealed the extra challenges faced by special schools during the coronavirus pandemic.

Seán Kretz, headteacher at Westfield Arts College in Weymouth, said that special schools have continued to cater for a much larger proportion of their student base than most mainstream schools throughout the crisis.

Vulnerable students, those with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) and the children of key workers have been allowed to continue going to schools across the country despite the closures. This has been difficult for special schools like Westfield, where more than half of their students have autism and all of them have EHCPs.

Mr Kretz said: "We had around 20 pupils in school for the first few weeks of lockdown and have grown this number to 60, some of them part time. We had online home learning resources on our website from day one, and have regularly hand delivered learning packs to around 70 families, posting them to many more.

"We have had to keep reopening more and more along the way really, even before government guidance came on how to do that safely. We were making arrangements for pupils and staff to be safely in schools long before the idea of bubbles became popular.

"This was when there was no PPE for hospitals, let alone schools. But Dorset Council were fantastic at offering us guidance and once PPE was available we were able to get in delivered the next day.

"All of our students are vulnerable and are on EHCPs. They all could have done with coming back to school but that's an impossible situation right now.

"For children with special needs, learning online is very difficult. A lot of mainstream school children will be able to sit down and do the home learning quite easily.

"We know that it is very difficult for a child with special education needs at home without that routine and structure of school."

Mr Kretz also praised his staff for their support during this difficult time. He said: "The staff have been absolute heroes, I know we are using that word a lot at the moment for NHS and key workers but our staff really have been. I was amazed at how willing they were to put themselves forward. Our staff showed real commitment at a time when no one knew if it was safe to be at work, and the rest of the country was in complete lockdown."