Ofsted in praise of new school...
Private venture makes most of location
CHILDREN at a new special school are visiting a country park for some of their lessons – and tucking into ‘pub’ lunches.
Active Wellbeing School is based at Longsdon Memorial Hall, which sits alongside The Wheel pub. Now pub staff have stepped in to help prepare the school meals.
The first 10 pupils joined the independent school in the spring term and they all come from Stoke-ontrent. But places will also be available for children referred by Staffordshire County Council.
It caters for five to 11-year-olds with education, health and care plans, including those who have autism and other social and mental health needs.
Headteacher Clare Marsh said: “Our curriculum is focused heavily on mental health and wellbeing. That’s our starting point.”
The therapeutic approach is based on five core values – resilience, respect, empathy, honesty and courage. Alongside the curriculum, the plan is to offer daily ‘assertiveness’ coaching and mentoring to the children.
They attend for 15 hours a week and also benefit from regular visits to a range of venues, including Hanley Park and nearby Deep Hayes Country Park, where they carry out forest school activities.
“At Deep Hayes, we do litter picks. It’s nice for the boys to give something back,” added Clare.
“Once the pandemic restrictions are lifted, we also want to be able to go out into the community and help with volunteering.”
The Leek Road school, which has 20 places for boys and girls, opened in January and leases the space at Longsdon Memorial Hall.
Pupils have a dedicated classroom there, which is for sole use by the school. But some of the other facilities may be used by community groups in the evenings and at weekends.
The children also have their own outdoor playground. In future, the school hopes to expand its accommodation by using mobile cabins.
“The location is beautiful. We open the gate and the boys are looking out at the sheep. It links in with their wellbeing,” said Clare, who used to teach in Kuwait.
Active Wellbeing School is owned by Active Resilience Ltd, which is run by directors Nicola Sothern and Theo Stair, who come from education and sports coaching backgrounds.
Ofsted carried out a pre-registration inspection back in October ahead of the opening. The report praised the planned approach to meeting children’s special needs.
It stated: “They have set up an online portal that will track and monitor pupils’ mental health and wellbeing and levels of learning. This is likely to support pupils in making good academic progress in line with their ability.”
The Moorlands school is one of a growing number of privately-run special schools to open in North Staffordshire. But while many of them focus on secondary age students, it hopes to fill a gap in support for primary pupils who need a different environment to mainstream education.