All of our staff are very experienced in working effectively with vulnerable students who have learning difficulties and/or social and emotional development issues caused by Adverse Childhood Experiences. Our skilled and dedicated staff tailor individual behaviour management strategies to improve students’ trust, self-esteem and confidence.

Our team provide therapeutic opportunities to enable students to unpick and think about their difficult feelings so that they can understand their behaviour and internal conflicts. This enables our students to develop their ability to build relationships, understand their feelings, manage their own behaviour and eventually become motivated and enthusiastic learners, prepared for a successful life beyond school.

The staff receive training in a variety of areas such as the effective use of attachment theory, systemic theory and mental health needs. Staff are also kept up to date with the importance that neuroscience has to play in our understanding of child development.

We pride ourselves in investing in the staff team by providing regular training, both internal and external, offering supervision and support.

The physical and mental health of our staff is exceptionally important. Some of the staff activities we offer are:

1. staff physical health activities – swimming, football, cricket, boxing, surfing, etc
2. staff mental health activites – half termly use of qualified and experienced educational psychologist and performance coach
3. team building activities – team quiz nights, cooking competitions and team sports

These activities, alongside a supportive appraisal system, enables our staff to thrive, improve upon their performance and meet their careers aspirations. Something all the visitors realise when they visit Howard House school is the genuine team spirit (we support and challenge each other) and the high level of professionalism.