School near Warwick for vulnerable and traumatised children celebrates tenth anniversary of its opening

A school for vulnerable and children is celebrating the tenth anniversary of it being opened near Warwick.

Northleigh House School, located between Shrewley and Hatton, was established in 2012 at the home of retired couple Viv and Fred Morgan.

They had read about a 14-year-old schoolgirl, who committed suicide due to bullying at school.

After making their own enquiries locally and discovering that a growing number of secondary school aged children were missing out on their education due to anxiety, learning difficulties, bullying and autism related issues, they decided to take matters into their own hands and start their own school.

Northleigh enables vulnerable and traumatised children to continue their education in a safe and nurturing environment, and in small class sizes, whilst providing them with any pastoral and mentoring support they need to rebuild their shattered self-belief.

Over the years it has helped over 100 children - and their families - from many areas of Warwickshire including Stratford, Leamington, Warwick and further afield in Worcestershire and the West Midlands.

To mark this milestone, Northleigh undertook to fundraise and build a brand new Wellbeing Hub in the school grounds.

When a new student joins Northleigh House School, they are partnered with a teacher/mentor and as part of their weekly timetable they have private, one to one mentoring sessions with that teacher, where they can discuss their progress and any anxieties in confidence.

For the past few years, Northleigh used a draughty old static caravan for these sessions, which was not ideal, but in April this went to a new home and the new Wellbeing Hub was finally built in early Summer.

The Wellbeing Hub comprises two small classrooms, a chill-out zone and a toilet.

Not content with building the Hub, a team of eager volunteers then helped turned the area surrounding the new Hub into a Sensory Garden, where students can relax in the Summer and grow vegetables.

Many people and businesses helped make this dream a reality and Northleigh has thanked them all.

They are: Warwick Lions, Warwick Rotary, Warwick Masons, SPK Foundation, Brentnall Trust, St Nicholas Ladies, John Lewis Solihull, Marie Lines, Singing for Pleasure, the Northleigh 10x10 Birthday Challengers, Claire Hammond’s London Marathon, Claude Hooper Interiors, Barn Close Nursery, Dobbies Stratford upon Avon, Colan LTD. In addition, many private donors contributed but wished to remain anonymous.

Many volunteers, both private and corporate have helped Northleigh over the past ten years.

Again, all the students, parents, staff and trustees at Northleigh are grateful to these people.

Each day, Northleigh receives new enquiries from parents desperate to find a school setting for their child.

Many of these children have been out of the school system for weeks, if not months at a time, and consequently are missing out both academically and socially on their formative years.

The school has said: “At the end of the day, childhood should be happy, exciting, inclusive and fulfilling for everybody.”

If you would like to learn more about the work Northleigh does, or would like to get involved, contact l[email protected] or visit www.northleigh.co.uk