A HEADTEACHER at a school in Dorchester has been playing the role of Willy Wonka by sending out golden tickets to invite people to his school.

Gary Spracklen, headteacher at Prince of Wales School sent his golden ticket invitations to a range of local politicians to highlight why the specialist provision his school provides needs to be adequately funded.

Mr Spracklen said: "We are a fully inclusive mainstream first school with a wide range of experience of successfully meeting the needs of children with significant barriers to their learning.

"The school has resourced provision for children with physical disabilities, mainly cerebral palsy, and this provision is currently under review by Dorset Council.

"I am keen to show recipients of our golden ticket invitations in person the importance of this specialist provision being adequately funded in the future."

One of the first people to take Mr Spracklen up on his invite was Cllr Andrew Parry.

Following his visit, Mr Parry tweeted: "My thanks to everyone at Prince of Wales School, I had such a lovely time.

"If anyone is still in any doubt about what an inclusive school should look like, this is it."

Councillors Jane Hewitt, Robin Potter and Molly Rennie recently visited the school together after receiving their invitations.

Cllr Potter said: "His [Mr Spracklen's] enthusiasm and commitment to the children and the enhancement of their learning was so plain to see both in his presentation and the reactions of pupils and staff.

"The arrangements he has made in and around the school to encourage children to learn appropriately and to be proud of their achievements will give them a very good start to their passage through education.

"I do hope that the schools successes will be noted by those in government who are able to loosen the purse strings a little, particularly perhaps in those areas of SEN which are so important."