I AM a former pupil of Dean Hall School and wish to protest at the proposed closure.

As I am registered partially sighted, Dean Hall School was the best option for me. It gave me a good education, from learning how to spell to basic computer skills. It was with the support of Dean Hall School that I obtained a place at the West of England Further Education College in Exeter.

Before I attended Dean Hall School they had very little provision for the partially sighted but within a short period of time they obtained various pieces of equipment to assist me, such as white boards instead of black boards, tilting desks etc, working with the recommendations of SENARC.

The school provided a safe and happy environment with the staff interacting with the pupils to get the best out of them and extending their capabilities to their full extent.

My time at the school gave me a tremendous boost in confidence, which provided a sound foundation to my further education at the West of England College.

It would be a great shame to deprive other local children with special needs the same opportunities to local education, as I was lucky enough to receive.

Although Brockworth is a very good school and would do the best it could, I feel that the location would deprive the Forest parents of participating as they have done in the past at Dean Hall. The journey would have the effect of extending the school hours and for the children with mobility problems it would be yet another experience they could do without.

The integration of special needs children into mainstream education would be added pressure as from my own experience would only work with certain children, not all. There could be a danger of feeling more left out and different.

I feel very strongly about the closure of Dean Hall School as this would lessen even further the facilities available in the Forest area to the families of children with special needs and this should not be allowed to happen. – Vivienne Walker, Exeter.