Seashell Trust is a charity

Charitable organization

A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...

 based in Cheadle Hulme

Cheadle Hulme

Cheadle Hulme is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, in Greater Manchester, England. It is southwest of Stockport and southeast of the city of Manchester. It lies in the Ladybrook Valley on the Cheshire Plain, and the drift consists mostly of boulder clay, sands and gravels...

, near Stockport

Stockport

Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...

 in Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...

, for children, young people and adults with sensory impairment, Profound & Multiple Learning Difficulties and Profound Communication Difficulties Special Educational Needs(SEN)/ Communication & Interactional Difficulties. It is the oldest deaf children's charity in the north west of England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and it operates a school, college

College

A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...

 and children and adult care and residential homes including a supported tenancy.

Schools

The Trust's special school is called Royal Manchester School, the Trust's independent specialist college [ISC] is Royal Manchester College. In addition, the Trust also operates 7 adult care homes and 3 children's homes as well as an adult residential care home: Griffin Lodge. and Domiciliary Care Services.

Staff

The current Chief Executive & Principal is Mark J Geraghty, who joined the charity in September 2009. A qualified Teacher and Teacher of the Deaf he has been a Senior Officer with several local authorities: Gloucestershire & Oxfordshire where he was in charge of the Local Authority's Special Educational Needs Support Services. The Senior Leadership of the Charity includes: Susan Cohen (Finance Director), Nikola Giles (HR Director), Anne-Maire Okotie (Director of Care), Bev Mars (Head of Assessment, Admissions & Access) and Dominic Tinner (Director of Fundraising).

Philosophy

The Seashell Trust now has a new strategic vision for 2020 which will lead the charity to become a "World Class" provision in the field of low-incidence services and provision. The Charity's vision is:

History

The original school was established in 1823 by Robert Phillips, a Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

 merchant, with the assistance of fellow merchant William Bateman. It attained its royal status by Queen Victoria

Victoria of the United Kingdom

Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....

 in 1897, and the current queen

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

 is its patron. The school has been located in different places over the years. It was first opened in Salford in 1825, with just 14 children, but it was soon deemed necessary to move to a larger site, this time to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Old Trafford, which was opened on 21 June 1837.

It remained there until 1956 when a new campus was built in Cheadle Hulme, built due to a wish for more suitable site. The school in Trafford remained open until 1982 and the charity now operates solely from the one site. The name was changed to Seashell Trust in 2008 because the former one (Royal Schools for the Deaf) was "misleading", according to governors.

Awards

In December 2009 the Royal School Manchester underwent an Ofsted Inspection of the School and Children's Homes. The result was a judgment of "outstanding" for the School and Children's homes. Given the history of this school and organization this is a tremendous performance. Acknowledgment to the Head of Royal School Jane Woodward and Anne Gough (Deputy Head of School).

In addition to the Royal School and Royal College Manchester, the Trust has a Director of Care: Anne-Marie Okotie, Head of Children's Services: This builds on a number of recent developments including Anne Gough being awarded National Special Needs teacher of the Year 2008–09.

National Accolades

1. Royal School Manchester - Ofsted 2009 "Outstanding"
2. Seashell Trust Children's Homes - Ofsted 2011 "Outstanding"
3. Griffin Lodge Residential Home - CQC 2009 & 2010 "Excellent"
4. Autism Accreditation Award (NAS) 2009
5. Driving for Better Business Award, 2009
6. BBC Power of Sport Award 2010
7. National Lottery Winners of the Inclusive Sports Award 2010

Seashell Trust and deafness impairment

The reference to deafness in the name of the school had become obsolete because an increasing number of the students enrolled had communication difficulties but were normally hearing. In particular, the Seashell Trust had developed considerable expertise in working with normally hearing autistic students. The deaf students now admitted by Seashell all have very complex additional needs, including visual impairments, physical difficulties and low general ability.

Nomenclature

The Seashell Trust as a charity is effectively the parent body of the former Royal School Manchester and Royal College Manchester. In changing the name of the school, it was decided to make a clear distinction between its school and its college (which occupy different parts of the campus). It was also decided to remove the reference to disability in the name. The school accepts students from preschool through to 19 years. The college runs a three-year programme, usually commencing when a student is 19 years old.