My role over these past few years has seen a substantial change. As a strategic leader, my role is often multifaceted and I am responsible for the overall performance of the school, ensuring that the welfare, needs and wants of the pupils is engrained into every decision we make, and underpins what we do on a daily basis.  I am an advocate for having an environment which promotes and encourages safety, and this is evident from my roles as a member of the Safeguarding and Health and Safety Committee.

Although I am involved in day-to-day management of the school, my role for strategic planning for the future, and implementing legislative and regulatory frameworks allow me to consider contingencies for the future and ensure that the school can go from strength to strength.

My intent for the school is to ensure that the school has a qualified and experienced team who are able to provide a wealth of experience that benefits the school and pupils.  An example of this, is through the Management Team which consists of Natalie Lovelock (The Deputy Headteacher), Jamie Martin (The Finance & IT Manager) and Suzanne Hollett (The HR and Pastoral Manager).  As a result of the experience the team brings, this has allowed me to take on strategic management and oversee compliance, including financial forecasting with Jamie, curriculum reviews with Natalie and training/HR reviews with Suzy, allowing me direct oversight of all areas of the school.  From these reviews I have seen the school grow, an example of which is a new library and Reading suite which allows our pupils access to over 7000 books, pupils who have seen a steady incline on their educational baselines, and a staff team with over 50% of whom, hold a qualification relevant to their role, and in British Sign Language. We have recently installed a fully hoisted care suite with our Hi / Low bath for all pupils to enjoy. We have just completed our very own sports court which enables all the pupils to be able to have fun, play football, basketball, and a whole host of ball games in a fully accessible and safe environment.

I will continue to strive and do my absolute best to keep on improving the facilities, equipment and resources for our amazing pupils and nurturing School to continue to provide a fist class provision with wrap around care to all our pupils, present and in the future.

Sara Llewellyn

Our school leader and founder of the Llewellyn school, Sara, is a parent herself of a child with complex medical needs and has intimate knowledge of the needs of children with complex medical needs and disabilities, and the extensive barriers that parents experience. Sara is a member of the Safeguarding team for The Llewellyn School and is part of the Senior Leadership team.

 Sara founded The Llewellyn School in response to the closure of The Royal School for the Deaf Children, where some of the most vulnerable children with complex medical needs and disabilities were left with no school that could meet their specialists needs. The Llewellyn School opened and was registered by the Department for Education in January 2017. Sara built two annexes including a specialist outside play area in her own garden. The space provided classrooms with specialist equipment and specialist trained staff and full-time therapy assistant. The school opened with 3 pupils on roll rising to 7 pupils within a year.

Ofsted July 2018 – With incredible vision and intimate knowledge of the needs of children who have disabilities, the proprietor has made the most of a confined space. Inside and outside areas have been carefully designed and equipped to a very high standard.

Ofsted June 2020 – This is a small school. Leaders and staff know pupils and their families very well. Pupils like this aspect of their school. They respect staff because they feel well cared for. Inspectors found that leaders and staff have appropriately high expectations of what pupils can do and can achieve. As a result, pupils thrive here. They work hard, have fun, and are making good progress in all aspects of their personal, social and academic development.

In response to the ever-increasing demand for pupil placements and having limited space, a huge team of people led by Trustees Tania Horn and Debbie Chapman began, with fund raisers, and many community projects choosing to support Louie’s Helping Hands. Grants were completed by Tania Horn and submitted some with the help of consultant Helen Monterio and if the grant supporters liked the project, they would then visit the site to see if and how they would like to support. The project was successful for winning many grants, Debbie was running around the community meeting and greeting people, giving talks, and supporting local people who were fund-raising and getting the word out locally. Without these two ladies and the support from Quex Park Estates, the School would not have been completed. In the final year of opening, the funds ran out and my family and I raised the funds to complete the build and the equipment which were needed to open.

Quex Park Estate played a fundamental part in the support they gave by allowing us to be on their land, they have been incredibly supportive with providing us with exceptionally low costs to have our building on the land and supporting us with car parking facilities.

 In September 2019, the School opened with 7 pupils enrolled, rising to 14 pupils in 2020 and further 6 pupils in 2022. We are currently awaiting a material change due to the expansion of buildings within our School and grounds, so we can support more pupils with complex needs.

Sara is extremely passionate about ensuring that the Llewellyn School continues to grow and expands to provide more places for more children with complex medical needs. Sara wishes to encourage inclusivity not just for pupils, but their families too – by providing support and extra respite care and services for all by cementing stronger relationships with the wider community and outside agencies such as social services, The education people, and Kent County Council.