Thank you for taking the time to find out more about Cambian Whinfell School. I understand that the decision to choose specialist education and residential care for your son will have been reached with a great deal of thought and soul searching. 

At Whinfell our first priority is to make our students feel safe, happy and secure in their new environment. We work hard to create a calm, therapeutic environment which feels as much like home as it is possible to be. With your son settled into the Whinfell family he will engage fully in education and the other myriad of experiences that we can offer. Working with him – and with you – we will make positive changes. 

We deliver the full national curriculum to our students, and in a supported, caring way we challenge them to be the best they can possibly be. 

We individualise timetables and our students study at levels appropiate to their needs. We offer GCSE's, Functional Skills and Entry Level Certificates. Our students continue studying Post 16 with A levels or BTEC Awards. They can do this either with us or at local colleges, including Kendal College, with whom we have excellent relations. 

We aspire for all of our students to be able to live independent or semi-independent lives in the community once they leave us. Academic qualifications are important so that our leavers can successfully enter employment or higher education when they do eventually leave us, but equally crucial is the development of independence, self-esteem, social and communication skills. We do this by supporting all our boys to access work experience, by fostering links with other schools and by getting involved with community events. 

Older boys can make a natural progression to full independence through graduating to our ‘independence house’ where they are supported to take full responsibility for their own daily living. 

Under-pinning all of this is the multi-disciplinary nature of the school. All staff are trained in working with young people with Autism, their individual needs and strategies are identified by a team of psychologists, including an occupational therapist and a speech and language therapist. 

We are a 10 minute walk from the centre of Kendal but we are also on the edge of the Lake District. The boys are therefore never isolated from the community but also benefit from all of the advantages the Lakes have to offer. All boys have a weekly Therapeutic Outdoor Learning session which can be anything from canoeing to rock-climbing, caving to mountain-biking and in their spare time they access local clubs and do activities such as sailing on Lake Windermere. 

I hope this prospectus gives you a good insight into the outstanding standard of education and care we provide for students with traits or diagnosis of Autism. I am immensely proud of the young people and the staff that we have. I think we are a unique provision and would encourage parents (through local authorities) to visit our school and see first hand what we can offer. 

If we can be of any further assistance, please feel free to contact us. I look forward to meeting you in the near future.  

Paddy Sandham 

Principal