Our Philosophy

The Witherslack Group of Schools is a specialist community working with and for pupils with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties, complex learning and communication difficulties and in some cases, mental health disability.  All schools are committed to the following principles:

  • To respect and value all individual pupils and staff;
  • To provide the highest standards of care and education;
  • To ensure safety, security and opportunities for success.

“WGS aspires to be an exemplar of best practice for children locally, regionally and nationally. It has a clear view of its purpose and practice and this is articulated in the theoretical and philosophical basis of its work.”

WGS maintains a high view of young people. This is rooted in its theoretical base of ‘Resilience Theory’ which holds to the principle that -
The individual has a combination of personal characteristics and skills that allows one to function beyond what would be expected in the light of that person’s vulnerability or exposure to adversities.

The Board formally adopted ‘Resilience’ as a working theory underpinning professional practice in the Witherslack Group of Schools in February 2001, and this high view of the individual is also expressed in the basic assumptions of WGS educational and therapeutic practices. These are –

  • Future and solution orientated rather than focusing on the past and it’s problems
  • Whilst ‘needs’ are recognised, the WGS approach to personal development is not fixed in a deficit model of special education.
  • Although WGS core provision is predominantly segregated from mainstream schools, it is ‘inclusionist’ in its orientation.
  • The future development of the pupil rests primarily within the individual pupil, but this ‘potential’ is encouraged to fulfilment through the supporting work of the staff working in partnership with parents and other primary carers.

Our pupils are part of a community that includes their family, the school itself and the wider social context in which they live. These must contribute to providing the impetus for future development and a platform from which that development may begin.