Wilds Lodge School
Rutland, United Kingdom
About Wilds Lodge School
Wilds Lodge School is an independent specialist boarding and day provision for boys and girls (girls are accepted as day students only) with social, emotional and mental health difficulties aged between 5 and 19. All the students at the school have an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP). It was established in 2007 and aims to place an equal emphasis on the educational, social and psychological development of our students. The key to the success of the school is a strong ethos, developed by a highly experienced and capable staff, and the strength of the relationships between the staff and the students.
The school draws nationally from Local Education Authorities and currently has under 90 students on role of which a small percentage are day students. It offers fortnightly boarding provision although in practice, most return to their families weekly. The students are grouped into five residential houses with close regard to their chronological age, their social needs and their personal maturity. The main needs of pupils with SEN at the school are social, emotional and mental health difficulties and Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
Location
Children are fully safeguarded. Clear risk assessments ensure that staff fully understand the potential risks faced by children and how to minimise these risks. Staff and managers are extremely diligent and very proactive in their approach. They respond very well to any safeguarding concerns. Excellent multi-agency working ensures that strategies to reduce risks are carefully reviewed and evaluated.
- Oftsed, December 2019Parents’ and carers’ comments are extremely positive and reflect the life-changing impact that the school has on children and their families. Comments include: ‘My child now has a future’, ‘My child is unrecognisable from when they started’ and ‘The school has saved my family, it’s as simple as that.’
- Ofsted, December 2019The staff know the pupils extremely well. The therapeutic approach supports the pupils’ emotional development. Therapists for speech and language, music and dance provide bespoke programmes to meet the needs of individual pupils. The support helps pupils to understand their own emotions and leads the pupils to start to self-regulate their emotions and behaviour. This in turn open up broader opportunities for the pupils within the school and at home
- Ofsted, January 2017Care and education staff work together seamlessly across the school and residence for the benefit of young people. A young person said: ‘I trust the staff. They always have time for you. They really do care.’
- Ofsted, January 2018“Children recognise the excellent progress that they make and the positive impact that the school has on their lives. One child who recently left wrote: ‘Thank you for giving me a second chance at life and making me the person I am today.’ Parents speak of the life-changing impact that the school has had for the child who attends and the whole family.”
- Ofsted, November 2018