Active Ark

The importance of education is never underestimated at Active Ark and we will provide or facilitate education for children and young people in our care appropriate to their needs, age, ability and length of stay.

We are registered to care for and look after children from eight years of age to young people eighteen and over. Obviously such a group is very different in terms of its needs and ability; our approach therefore is tailored to the child’s level of ability, degree of participation and length of stay.
What follows is a description of the educational support that we provide for our young people which is designed to be appropriate and achievable.

PRACTICAL SUPPORT AT ALTERNATIVE EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS

At Active Ark we keenly support young people in our care to attend local authority provided educational facilities if they cannot attend mainstream schools. We aim to achieve high levels of attendance and time keeping by providing supportive yet firm care. Our care staff will try to ensure that the young person is adequately rested, fed and take them to the school and if required, remain with them at the establishment throughout the day. We try to engender an attitude that school attendance is of the utmost importance to their future as is engagement with their work.
Examples of establishments which provide full time education facilities for young people who have found mainstream school difficult include; The Wilton Provision in Hawick, Sparks of Genius in Musselburgh, Crannog in Dumfries & Galloway and The Place in South Tyneside.
We have forged good collaborative relationships with the managers and tutors at these establishments so that the young person can obtain the greatest benefit from their time at them. Some of our young people have attended Sparks and have successfully completed their exams there and several others have had the opportunity to be educated outwith mainstream school at Crannog.
The Place in South Tyneside is a very similar provision to the Wilton Centre and delivers education on a part time basis. We have also established good collaborative relationships at these schools, helping to provide our young people with appropriate education opportunities. Our care staff supplement these part-time facilities by obtaining extra work from them which then has to be completed at their Active Ark home or at our classroom facility at the office in Carlisle where they have access to the internet and other teaching resources

PRACTICAL SUPPORT IN MAINSTREAM EDUCATION

On several occasions we have helped our young people to continue to be educated at their original mainstream schools and, even when out of our county, we have facilitated their education by part-time attendance on agreed days. On other occasions we have accommodated care staff and the child near the school and family home thereby combining school attendance with home visits integrating them into an eventual planned return to the family home.
We have also sent young people to mainstream school when they were living at their Active Ark homes.
We often prepare children in our care for attendance at residential school and deliver their educational needs in the interim via work provided to us from their existing mainstream school until the transition is complete.

ASDAN EDUCATION PROVISION

As an experienced registered provider of the ASDAN education system we have been able to offer an alternative to mainstream education for those young people who could not participate in the formal educational environment. We have four dedicated managers, two being qualified teachers, who deliver the ASDAN modules and assist the care staff to do likewise. Many of our young people have successfully achieved the entry level Bronze Award and some have had success in the Silver Award which equates to the standard grade in the Scottish system.
For those children who come for only a short stay and may have an aversion to education we are members of the Institute of Outdoor Learning and will conduct exciting activities which provide learning experiences subliminally.

POST SCHOOL AGE

Many of the young people over sixteen years of age have completed full time college courses whilst staying with us. We have arranged their enrolment, encouraged attendance and supported them by liaising with their tutors and giving no small amount of encouragement and incentive. Examples of courses attended include night classes, part-time and full time education at Carlisle College, Barony Equine College and Dumfries College.
We have had many young people complete our semi-independence training programme with successful outcomes were young people have developed the necessary life skills prior to leaving Active Ark. These programmes have now been augmented by the ASDAN Personal Social Development system and our four managers with responsibility for education are certified to deliver it. PSDs are designed for young people over sixteen and have modules which develop the physical, social, emotional and cognitive skills needed for full independent living when emerging from the care system.

SOCIAL INCLUSION, SPORTS AND OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

As well as education we are equally concerned to afford our young people the opportunity of social inclusion during their time at Active Ark. All of our young people are encouraged to engage in new hobbies or interests that offer enrichment and raise confidence and self esteem. The list of examples, which is not exhaustive, includes; Razzmataz which teaches dance and performing arts. Participation in activities including football clubs for girls and boys, swimming clubs, lessons in horse riding, music, ice skating and trampoline. We have had young people attend various Youth Clubs, Army Cadets, Boys Brigade and the Girl Guides. There are many, many, more group sporting and hobby experiences participated in such as fishing, mountain biking, carting and motorsport.
Obviously we are magnificently situated geographically to experience a plethora of outdoor activities in the Scottish Highlands, the English lakes and Kielder Forest. The range of outdoor activities here are almost endless as we have qualified outdoor instructors on our staff as well as responsible providers who we have vetted ourselves to take young our people on adventures in safety. These include camping, mountain biking, climbing, orienteering, caving, canoeing, sailing and many more.