Message from our CEO

This year, we opened three new schools; Castlefell School in South Gloucestershire, Hilden Park School in Kent and Bescot Hall School in the West Midlands. All enabling us to continue to improve the lives of young people across the country.

The achievements of our pupils continue to inspire us. This academic year, students across our schools secured 1,611 qualifications, reflecting hard work, determination and the unwavering support of our teams. Every single one of our school leavers moved into further education, employment or training, all supported by our WG Futures programme, which delivers unlimited aspiration and endless opportunities, preparing young people for the world of work. Seeing our pupils take these next steps with confidence, supported by our growing network of employer partnerships, is truly rewarding. Their success stories—of resilience, ambition, and achievement—are at the heart of everything we do.

Beyond the classroom, growing the support and advice we provide to parents and carers was also a significant focus of the year. This year 30,000 more parents, carers and professionals signed up for our advice and support, our webinars saw record attendance levels and our SENsational podcast continued in its popularity. We remain focussed in our target of supporting one million parents, carers and professionals by 2030.

Strong teamwork and great leadership have been consistent factors in the excellent Ofsted ratings for our schools, children’s homes and learning centres. With each one of our schools rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted. Our leadership development programmes continue to be at the forefront of the ways we develop our future leaders: Elevate, our talent programme for head teachers and registered managers of the future; and Aspire, supporting talented team members to broaden their skills and knowledge to get them ready for the next step in their careers with us. It has been really pleasing to follow the progress of colleagues taking part in these programmes.

Effective and supportive leadership is so important to building high levels of employee engagement, and our successes in this area have played a key part in achieving our highest-ever result for employee engagement - as measured through completion of our annual Great Place to Work Employee Survey and calculated using the Employee Net Promoter Score.

There was a huge buzz about our Star Awards employee recognition event, which saw our winners selected from more than 300 nominations (from both staff and students) of great work, as well as our sustained progress on the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) actions we are taking to create a better world. This included gaining Bronze Accreditation from Inclusive Employers during the year for our equality, diversity and inclusion approach.

As we look to the future, we remain committed to raising the bar for specialist education, ensuring that each pupil receives the support, encouragement, and opportunities they deserve. The journey does not end at school—our role is to prepare our pupils for the wider world, equipping them with the confidence, skills, and independence to thrive in whatever path they choose.