The personal and social developmental needs of our students act as a barrier to accessing their education and often impact upon effective engagement in their social world. Having an understanding of the young person and how they interact with the world in which they operate is key.  

  

We focus on helping our young people overcome the challenges they face throughout the school day. Staff are on hand to support young people understand the difficulties they face, and to find routes to overcome these. This is a gradual process, with young people slowly moving to a position where habitual behaviours and thought patterns are modified; becoming more effective in building upon positive experiences.  

  

Staff model best practices and work pro-actively with students to find opportunities for success. Positive reinforcement is used, resulting in the raising self-esteem, general well-being and resilience being underpinned to provide the natural traits required to self-motivate.  The relationships between staff and students is central to this, indicating a requirement for all staff to have the skills to engage effectively, with the knowledge and understanding to be effective in their role.