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At Westward House we believe there is no hierarchy of status, only of roles.

We are very proud of the talented and caring people who make up our team of staff  and their commitment to our school values.  

 

 

Academic Lead– Michelle Dunne

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BA Honours, PGCE, CCET, CP3TA, BPS -RQTU

Michelle is a highly experienced teacher and school leader having worked on school leadership teams in primary and secondary settings and both independent and state sectors. Michelle has a broad CV of experience across all abilities and age ranges, most recently having worked as an ALNCo and on the management team of an independent school for pupils aged 3-16. A specialist assessor and Member of the British Psychological Society with a Level 7 qualification, she is passionate about supporting children and young people to succeed. Michelle is well known for her empathetic, intuitive, positive can-do approach and for her commitment to raising self-esteem and developing positive mental health in young people.  

  

Teacher - Marian Logie

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Marian is a teacher with a wealth of experience teaching in schools and also many years of experience as a specialist home tutor for children with SEN of various ages. Marian is a primary trained teacher with a Level 4 qualification in Dyslexia and Co-occurring Difficulties as well as a Future Learning Certificate in Understanding Autism. Marian’s experience has always been focused on child-centred approaches. She has a very kind and caring personality and has a wonderful skill at making everyone around her feel calm!

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Teacher - Ben Macare 

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Ben has qualifications in Sports Science from the University of Glamorgan and for many years was an Education Officer delivering outdoor residential courses for the National Trust. He also created and oversaw personal development courses for young people and has previously worked as a residential care worker providing pastoral care and teaching life skills to vulnerable young people in full time care.  Ben has many qualifications in coaching various outdoor pursuits..on land, water and mountains! 

He has a great love of the outdoors and all things active, together with a very calm, encouraging and unassuming personality that supports young people to gain self confidence. 

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Teacher - Laura Maggs

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Laura has a first class honours degree in Theatre and Drama and has worked as an actress for BBC Wales and had a lead role as Marie Curie in Vivian Mainwarings film, "Doyle. She has starred in numerous lead roles in amateur and professional theatre, most recently starring as Martha in Nick Payne's play "Incognito". Working in partnership with the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, she co-wrote, co-directed and starred in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival production called "Museum of Lies". She worked for several years as part of a team involved in immersive children's theatre and is a leader and singing teacher for "Cast and Crew", a local children's drama group. Laura has also devised and performed council funded educational pieces. As you can probably tell from her background, Laura is someone with a passion and talent for performing and teaching young people. She is also an incredibly kind and gentle person who everyone loves!  

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Teacher - Ruth Harris 

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Ruth has a degree in Zoology and for a number of years has been the Director of Outdoor Education, Pastoral Lead and Vice Chair of the collegiate of another independent school. Ruth creates outdoor learning that excels in developing STEAM skills in a highly engaging way. Full of fun and energy, Ruth is someone who never fails to make everyone laugh and have fun while they are fully immersed in learning cross-curricular and team building skills.

Ruth will be working with us part time in delivering some of outdoor school. 

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Teaching Assistant -Cissy Harrison

 

Cissy has worked as a teaching assistant supporting those with learning needs for a number of years both on a 1:1 basis and in small groups. She is committed to continuing professional development and has taken courses in Autism, Dyslexia, Global Development Delay and various other practitioner's courses to enable her to assist in delivering SEN provision. Cissy is calm, kind and always encouraging. Her gentle manner and mindful approach is always very much appreciated by the children and staff she supports.  

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Additional Teaching Staff

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At Westward House we offer a range of GCSE options including English Language/ Literature, Maths, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, History, Geography, RE, Spanish, Latin, Computer Science, Art and PE. These subjects are overseen, and teaching is supported by many specialist subject teachers who are part of another independent school. Welsh, (and other preferred GCSE options), may be available on request, as well as peripatetic teachers of musical instruments. 

 

We also have supportive relationships with outside specialist practitioners that we can call upon for outsourced advice and consultancy to support our pupils who may need additional help in areas of Occupational Therapy and SEND.

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The owner of Westward House School is Mrs Harriet Harrison who should be contacted in the first instance with all enquiries from prospective parents, LEAs, external agencies and professionals.  

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