Montacute is a specialist school looking after 82 young people with complex learning difficulties or disabilities in the Poole, Bournemouth and Dorset area. Whilst the students have undoubted skills and abilities, they also struggle to overcome profound difficulties. Many are on the autistic spectrum, others have sensory impairment, physical disabilities or high medical needs. All have problems with communication and learning.

When Montacute School was completely rebuilt in 2014/5, the original budget was slashed from £12 million to £5 million: delivering, in effect, an empty shell. The school has worked very hard (with help from donors and partners) to equip the school with the complex equipment needed to enable students to fully engage with learning - safely and with dignity, and now needs to provide a similarly stimulating external learning and sensory environment.

The Step Outside masterplan identifies what is needed to transform the school grounds, and this is broken down into a series of discrete projects. It would be really rewarding if Corfe Mullen Carnival was able to make a significant contribution to one of these projects.

Please visit the Montacute School website for further details.