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CEDAR HOUSE SCHOOL is a 38 week residential and day special school, which caters for boys and girls between the ages of 7-16, situated in the market town of Kirkby Lonsdale, in the Lake District.

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"As a result of the good teaching and high standards of care, the pupils make good progress in their learning and outstanding progress in their personal and social development." Ofsted 2007
Outstanding Results from Ofsted

CEDAR HOUSE SCHOOL
After a joint Ofsted inspection, Cedar House School in Cumbria has been recognised as providing an outstanding quality of education and outstanding quality of care for its pupils.
Cedar House School in Kirkby Lonsdale has been praised by Ofsted for the overall quality of its education and the effectiveness of teaching and assessment in meeting the full range of pupils’ needs. The report also rated the “provision for promoting the health and well-being of boarding pupils” as “outstanding.”
Gillian Ridgway, Head Teacher at Cedar House School, said: “I am delighted that Ofsted has recognised the fantastic achievements of the staff and pupils at the school. The ‘Outstanding’ inspection grades are well deserved and reflect the successes of the school. This will now be our third year of being recognised as an outstanding provider by Ofsted and demonstrates our commitment to provide quality care and education, enabling all our pupils to reach their potential as productive citizens.”

PONTVILLE SCHOOL
Pontville School in Ormskirk has been rated ‘Outstanding’ for the overall quality of its education and its residential provision.
Pontville School received the praise following its latest inspection by Ofsted.
The report highlights the school as being “particularly successful in improving pupils’ communication skills, increasing their self-esteem and confidence as well as preparing them for adult life.”
Inspectors also pointed to the “overwhelmingly supportive” questionnaires received from parents, including the following typical comment; “School life for our son before going to Pontville was so emotionally hard and stressful. He is now a much calmer and centred young person due to Pontville’s effect on him. We are absolutely overwhelmed by what a wonderful school it is.”
In 2009, the school achieved a 100% pass rate for GCSE exams, with some pupils gaining seven, which the report says is due to the “outstanding curriculum and outstanding teaching and assessment.”
Iain Sim, Head Teacher at Pontville School, said: “Everyone has worked tremendously hard to ensure we are delivering the very highest quality education for our pupils. Such ‘Outstanding’ results can only be achieved as a result of the dedication and commitment shown by all of my staff.”

Pick up a Penguin

Lakeside School has a brand new pupil in the shape of Polly the Penguin.
The 3ft fibreglass figure was designed by the pupils at Lakeside School as part of ‘Go Penguins’, a public art project to mark Liverpool’s Year of the Environment.
The project saw 140 individually designed penguinsdisplayed throughout Merseyside between November and January this year. Lakeside was one of 93 schools to get involved in the project.
Vicky Size, Head Teacher at Lakeside School, said: “The pupils are absolutely thrilled with Polly the Penguin and enjoyed designing her for the exhibition.
“Polly’s clothes are based on our school uniform. Each pupil designed and painted their own purple square depicting their favourite aspect of Lakeside, so we had a wide range of pictures ranging from football matches to frogs in the lake.
“The finished result was fantastic and Polly was a real credit to the school when she went on display at Liverpool’s Met Quarter shopping centre. We are now really looking forward to getting Polly back to the school so she can take pride of place in our entrance hall.”

On Your Bike for Charity

A teacher from Cumberland Upper School in Blackburn got on his bike to raise more than £600 for a local hospital.
Dave Williams cycled 75 miles from Cumbria to Blackburn to raise money for The New Children’s Hospital Appeal.
He was inspired to organise the charity event by one of his pupils who was treated at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital in April following a road accident.
Dave Williams said: “I was keen to do something to help raise awareness for The New Children’s Hospital Appeal after finding out more about the fantastic work that they do.
“I went to the school to tell them that I wanted to organise a charity event and we came up with the idea of a cycle ride.
It took nearly five hours to complete and, despite being difficult in places, it was a great feeling to complete it. It was also a massive help to have the pupils cheering me on at Preston and back at school.”
Jackie Rhodes, Head Teacher at Cumberland Upper School, said: “We are extremely proud of Dave and the pupils enjoyed cheering him on when he was completing the ride. Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital is a wonderful charity to support and I am sure the money raised will go towards making a real difference to many people’s lives.”

Walking Tall at WCEI

A teenager from The Birches Children’s Home in Southport was walking tall when he raised more than £800 for charity.

Bradley, who is 16, walked seven and a half miles from Ormskirk to Southport to raise money for the NSPCC. He was joined on the journey by his family,friends and staff from the home.

Bradley trained for his sponsored walk with his Key Worker, Paul Mowatt, by walking from Freshfield to Southport, along Fisherman’s Path.

Paul Mowatt said: “Bradley is always doing things for charity so we were not surprised when he told us that he planned to do a sponsored walk. We are all extremely proud of his achievements and look forward to seeing what fundraising activity he comes up with next.”

Bradley said: “Many people came to support us along the way which was great and we were able to raise a lot of money for a good cause.”