I have been involved with the management committee for the Willows Short Stay School in the St Francis Centre Southway for a few years now.  I have been chairing the committee meetings for about a year.  I wish it was possible for everyone to see what wonderful work they are doing.  Their students are there for short periods of time because they are having difficulties in mainstream education.  That can be for many different reasons but the difference The Willows can make to those people is amazing.  For example, some students are “school-phobic” and have problems with even going into school and yet the attendance rate at The Willows is something mainstream schools would be proud of.  The fact that the teaching and support staff genuinely care for their students is so evident.

The management committee met last night and it is clear that the changes in education are going to have a huge impact on the school.  I am sure that they will do their level best to absorb those changes while still keeping up their amazing standards on behalf of the young people.  I just wish that sometimes Secretaries of State would realise that education covers a wide range of young people and we should be supporting people who help even the most challenged to achieve their maximum potential.