The Dales School working hard to open second train classroom - but still need £30k

After turning the first carriage into a library, the special educational needs school is now converting its second carriage into a science, technology, engineering and maths centre.

Originally an idea to convert a bus, the class 144 Pacer train project is due to finish in July and is already immeasurably successful.

Project leader and outdoor learning teacher James Groundwater said: “When we first got the train, a lot of children had the stigma of going to a special needs school.

“They are labelled naughty because they ‘failed’ at mainstream school, and they do not have self-esteem.”

Now the children are now known for attending the school with the train, and not for The Dales’ additional needs brief.

Deputy headteacher Sally Collins added: “It has given the children some community standing, which is quite big.

“It has given them a voice within their own community.”

The STEM carriage will be filled with building blocks, toy train tracks, virtual reality technology, and more.

The school is hoping to embrace and celebrate what opportunities pupils’ divergent thinking can bring.

James said: “We imagine, with having such fantastic resources that we are hoping to get, that the engagement will be there, and the engagement will transfer into learning and knowledge.”

A cause-and-effect role play area, where children can operate the train’s wipers, lights, and buzzer, is already taking shape in the cab, as are creative modifications like turning the toilet into a charging station and the bike rack into a retractable TV.

This screen will be used by Network Rail to educate children across the North East on railway safety.

It will help keep The Dales pupils safe too, as well as helping them learn to engage with a railway environment without becoming overstimulated, opening them up to the social mobility benefits rail travel can bring.

Sally said: “So often we see the train at a station, but we do not realise, actually, how big it is.

“With having a new train line being put in, literally in our backyard, we do not want the children playing on the tracks.”

Drumming up funding and scraping away decades-old chewing gum is a big workload for several school staff members on top of their already-hectic jobs.

James said: “We are so driven to actually get the train there because we can see what benefits it can give to the children.

“We are used to giving our time up because we know what the end impact will be.”

But James, Sally and the team still have £30,000 to raise.

They have had contributions of funds, materials, and manpower from countless sources in the community.

Businesses have helped with waterproofing, laying tracks, and constructing the platform, as have community groups like Blyth Man Shed, which assembled the ticket office.

James said: “It has been like a real big community effort. It is really nice for us that people believe in the project.

“They can see what good it is going to do to the community and also for our children.”

David Thompson, chairman of Blyth Man Shed, said: “It is a good project to work on. It is quite high-profile, especially here in Blyth.

“It gave us a chance to work with local schools and reach out further across the community.”

If the STEM carriage benefits are anything like the library’s, they will be dramatic.

Having a library on a train inspires children to read for fun, turning around negative associations some have following experiences in mainstream schools.

James said: “When children come on the train, they do not feel that they have failed reading. They do not look at the book and say: ‘I have to read this.’

“It is all about exploring and getting used to reading in the first place, and seeing books as something fun and enjoyable.”

He added: “One of the things we want to bring in with the library is to have parents coming on the train, and to be able to have parents and children reading together so the children are seeing that the parents read as well.

“Seeing the parents enjoying reading would just bring another element to the children because they want to do what mum and dad do, or carers do, and enjoy reading.”

The carriage engages children who are not interested in books with a music and puppets section, and has a Harry Potter-themed section for children with more advanced reading abilities.

A book vending machine is installed at the end of the carriage, with children earning tokens that can be swapped for a book to take home. This idea was suggested by a student, who developed a love of reading and was inspired by the unique environment.

The books are changed every term to maintain the interest of the children. The current theme of ‘amazing journeys’ aims to take the school’s pupils on an imaginative railway trip to the four nations of the United Kingdom.

Sally said: “It really is a vehicle for teaching. It is that wrapper that we can couch our curriculum in and teach all the basic skills and life skills that our children need.”

The library carriage was recently featured on Channel 4 show George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces, further boosting pupils’ self-esteem.

James said: “They were so proud to actually be involved in the project, and it was their train.

“It was nice to show the public what the school is about and just how hard we work and go the extra mile for the children in the school.

“A lot of them come here and they do not have anything, so I want to keep building them up and giving them the experiences to be successful in life.”