School receives gold teaching standard

Last updated 18:41, Wednesday, 24 September 2008

AWARD: George Matthews of Team-Teach Ltd presents Witherslack Hall Headteacher Tina McIntosh with the firm’s gold standard. With them are (back, left to right) Tony Cousins, director, Witherslack Group; Val Hayton, Witherslack Hall Team Teach tutor; Geoff Brady, Witherslack Group director; and Mark Dodgson, lead tutor for Team Teach in school submitted

A SOUTH Cumbria school has become the first independent residential special school in the country to receive a specialist excellence award.
Staff at Witherslack Hall School, near Grange, have been presented with the Team-Teach Gold Standard.
The school is a 38 week residential and day special school which teaches boys aged between 11 and 19 with complex learning needs and challenging behaviour.
Team-Teach Ltd is the UK’s first accredited training frameworks specifically for professionals working with young people who display challenging behaviour.
The Gold Standard Award recognises best practice in terms of policy and procedure.
Tina McIntosh, the headteacher of Witherslack Hall School, said: “I am very proud of my staff who fully deserve this award and delighted that their dedication and professionalism is recognised in this way.”
Robin Rhodes, the deputy headteacher and the first trainer of Team-Teach at the school, said: “We have been involved with Team-Teach for more than nine years and have learnt such a lot about positive interactions between staff and pupils. The training has been invaluable and will serve our staff and pupils well for the years to come.”
George Matthews, the director and founder of Team Teach Ltd, said: “I was highly impressed by the staff at Witherslack Hall School and the way in which they interacted with their pupils.
“The school makes outstanding provision for students’ health, welfare and safety.”
Jim Bowers, the proprietor and managing director of the Witherslack Group said: “This is the first school in the Group to be presented with the award and we hope it is the first of many.
“The Team-Teach approach is one which we are encouraging across our portfolio of schools and care homes.”
Witherslack Hall is one of eight schools and four children’s homes run by The Witherslack Group, which offers education and residential care to children with special education needs.