Cedar House School is a residential special school for boys and girls with a variety of emotional, social and mental health difficulties and associated challenging behaviour. It is part of the Witherslack Group, a national provider of specialist education and care for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The school is registered to admit up to 88 pupils, aged between seven and 18 years. There are currently 71 pupils on the school roll, all of whom have an education, health and care plan. Twenty-nine pupils are looked after by a variety of local authorities. Seventeen pupils live in four self-contained residential houses adjacent to the school site. The school does not make use of any alternative education provision for any of its pupils. The school has no religious denomination. Cedar House School says it aims to ‘respect the value of all individual pupils and staff, to provide the highest standards of care and education and to ensure safety, security and opportunities for success.’ The school says that it aspires to be ‘an exemplar of best practice for children locally, regionally and nationally.’ The school’s previous inspection was in April 2016 when its overall effectiveness was judged as good. The residential provision was last inspected in November 2017 when the overall judgement was outstanding.