THIS category seeks to celebrate the pioneering work being done in East Lancashire’s special schools where the challenges are many…but so are the rewards.

Helping youngsters with physical and mental disabilities can be taxing but many of our area’s schools provide the very best learning environments where pupils can be stimulated and expand their knowledge of life skills. Those are the schools we want to be nominated.

One Blackburn organisation which has been linked with the sector for the past two generations is Blackburn-based EPSL Educational Printing which offers a wide range of resources for pupils with specific learning difficulties.

Managing director, David Pickering, whose father Fred, a former teacher, set up the business more than forty years ago, explained why he specifically wanted to sponsor this category.

He said: “About 1.7 million children in England have special educational needs so it is absolutely vital to support their learning and that’s why we are delighted to be sponsoring the Special Schools Category in this year’s education awards.

“We have invested in identifying ways to help children who require additional support.

“We also offer schools educational resources that have been written specifically for children with SEN to boost engagement and nurture a love of learning that will last a lifetime.

Good luck to all the entrants in this year’s awards,” he said.

This year we are looking for schools which have been innovative; professional; increased engagement and communication either within the school or in the wider community. But that’s just the start – it could be new links with industry; school results or an individual project which has benefitted all the pupils or perhaps just one. It’s your stories we want to celebrate so tell us about them!”