Core values are the central underpinning of Westcountry SEN as they are the fundamental beliefs of the organisation. Core values are something that every Westcountry SEN employee should operate from and use as guiding principles in everything we do.

Potential

Potential is having inner latent abilities or qualities that can be developed for future successes. All of us need to be able to believe in this potential.

Potential in your students. Without the core belief of potential, it becomes very easy to place a limit on a student’s ability, tutoring and educational support either consciously or unconsciously limiting a student’s ability.

Our current education system is organised in a way that enables education for large groups. Like any system it needs organisation, categorisation and a hierarchy to make the best use of the resources the system has. This means students are assessed, categorised according to ability and ultimately predictions of their ability in the form of predicted grades.  This system is not perfect, but it is a good system for managing large numbers of students and tailoring teaching to the group norm.

However, on a 1:1 basis, we can reverse the process and focus instead on potential. When we act with the belief in the potential of students it is easier for us to change tutoring strategies, seek help from mentors and managers and work harder to help students achieve personal and academic success. In summary, we hold a fundamental belief that given the right support, all students have the potential to improve and achieve.

Potential in yourself. Without believing in your own potential, you be unwilling to learn and develop. If you struggle to believe you have potential, you will struggle to be open to learning new things as it may cause you to feel helpless or overwhelmed. You have potential to learn and develop. If you look at the habits of any successful person you will see they are continually learning and developing their abilities, they are not frightened to learn and to progress.

If you look at people who do not believe in their own potential, you will see they like to stick with what they know and feel nervous at learning new things. They have not created the belief in potential.  You need to believe in your own potential in order to really believe in another person’s (child or adult) potential.

One last note on potential; potential should never be classified as or confused with ‘fake it till you make it’ qualities. Potential is the starting block.  If you truly believe in your own or another person’s potential, you will strive to learn, apply and continually adapt advanced skills to unlock student’s potential.

Potential: We have a firm fixed belief in our own, our student’s, our client’s and our colleague’s potential.

Compassion

Compassion is the ability to see the deeper suffering of individuals and take motivated action to support them.

When we work with children and adults and tutor them in a compassionate way, we do not turn away from how much struggling with education can cause suffering for any individual. When working with others we need to scaffold the tutoring and academic support with compassion and understanding.

Engaging through compassion enables us to see others for who they are, their hopes, fears, goals and personal narratives. When we work with them from that starting position, we can support their growth and achievement.

Working without compassion has the potential to cause stress, anxiety and academic disengagement.

Compassion: We facilitate learning that is at all times scaffolded by compassion. We see all people for who they are and support growth from that base.

Respect

We have respect for others at all times. This is working with their feelings, wishes and rights at all times. We respect people for who they are, their wishes and rights even if we do not agree with them, or experience differences.

Having respect for others’ wishes and rights enables them to feel safe and to express themselves, this applies to colleagues, clients, students and all associates of Westcountry SEN. When there is respect in all your professional relationships, feelings of trust, safety and well-being are possible.

Respect: We have respect for others at all times, including their feelings, decisions and goals.

Responsibility

We take responsibly for our intentions and actions at all times. We have a responsibly to work with integrity and honesty. Having integrity enables tutors and other colleagues to seek help when they need support or are stuck in a student’s progress.

We have a responsibly to be open about learning new things and working in new ways that bring about the best outcomes for ourselves, colleagues, students and clients.

Responsibility also comes in the form of being reliable and consistent with everyone associated with Westcountry SEN. We understand consistency is the most import factor in unlocking potential and continually working on our own and others’ development.

In regard to tutoring, we must understand that tutoring is a ‘doing’ service, we have a responsibility to work in this way at all times. It is very easy to see where a student’s weakness is, to see their failings, to see where they could do better. However, it is not useful to identify any educational issues unless we take responsibly for improving and working on them.

Responsibility is the difference between ‘Tommy needs to work on his 6 times tables’ and ‘I will help Tommy become proficient with his 6 times tables’.

Responsibility: We work with integrity, honesty and openness to learning new things. We are reliable and consistent. We have a shared accountability and an acceptance of personal responsibility.

Growth

We strive for growth at all times. This is relating to growth in students’ academic confidence, competence and general self-esteem.  Our own growth in terms of personal development, skills and capabilities.

We also strive for our company growth, promoting internally whenever possible and reaching to expand and develop high quality services to students and families across the UK and globally.

Growth: We strive for growth at all times and we celebrate the achievements that brings.