TGtB Meets...Calder House School - Bath Life Awards Special

Calder House School won the award for Education at the 2015 Bath Life Awards. Meet the winner behind the award, with our exlusive TGtB Meets... interview!

Congratulations on your win! Tell us a little bit about your business?

Calder House is a small school – we only ever have 48 pupils – and we exist to help children with dyslexia, dyspraxia and other specific learning difficulties achieve their potential. We have a transformative impact on the lives of our pupils. We take children who have previously been struggling in school and teaching them the skills and strategies they need in order to return to, and thrive in, mainstream education. 

What does winning this award mean for you and your company?

We didn’t win this award. Our pupils won it for us! The award is a recognition of all their amazing achievements. All too often children with dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties are overlooked and underestimated. This award, in recognising what our pupils have achieved, helps to set the record straight by highlighting some of the remarkable things dyslexic, dyspraxic and dyscalculic children can achieve with the right support.  So we were absolutely over the moon to accept this amazing award on their behalf.

How are you planning to celebrate your victory?

We told pupils that they had won in an Assembly the day after the Awards Ceremony. And they were really excited and very proud to hear the news!  Calder House had been one of six shortlisted schools and colleges in the final round of the competition. All of the finalists are terrific schools with impressive records of achievement and they are all much, much bigger than us. We were thrilled to even get this far in the competition. So you can’t imagine how excited we were to win it!

Business is clearly booming, why do you think so many people visit Bath?

Bath is a wonderful place with so much to offer and we’re really lucky to have such an amazing city on our doorstep. Over the years many families have relocated to the area in order to send their children to Calder House. At the moment we have families moving from the USA and Dubai in order to send their children here. Although of course most of our pupils already live locally and around 10% are funded by their LEAs.

What's your favourite thing about Bath and why?

Bath is the perfect combination of town and country. As a city it offers our pupils everything from amazing museums to fantastic events such as the Bath Literary Festival – which everyone at Calder House thinks is just fantastic! But Bath is also situated in the most wonderful countryside and wherever you live you’re never far from a wonderful walk or breathtaking view. What more can anyone ask for?