WHEN a young person’s education has been disrupted the challenges they face to achieve qualifications and to move on to positive destinations can feel sometimes insurmountable. However, with a careful, consistent and bespoke curricular approach, across Keys we have seen our Year 11 leavers consistently defy expectations. We spoke to Emma Beech, Chief Operating Officer (Children’s Division) at Keys Group to find out more.  “In our schools, our … [Read more...]

A NORTH-WEST specialist school has expanded to meet the demand for places and to widen its offering for children and young people. Acorns School, part of Keys Group, currently supports 30 students with social, emotional, and mental health difficulties. It is based in Marple, Cheshire, and in recent years has seen demand for places increase. To allow the school to offer more places, it has recently opened a second site in nearby Ashley, … [Read more...]

Acorns School had much to celebrate earlier this year. As well as the opening of a new ‘satellite’ site called Acorns Ashley, its Year 11 leavers had gained fantastic qualifications and 100% of them moved on to positive destinations. Across its leavers, the school saw two young people achieve no fewer than six GCSEs each. One of those young people gained eight qualifications overall (alongside their GCSEs, they also gained functional skills … [Read more...]

The end of the long summer holidays is approaching and while for some the return to school will be highly anticipated, for some young people, the change to routine and going back to the classroom can increase anxiety and potentially affect mental health and well-being. For children for whom school has not always been a positive experience, or for those who thrive on very carefully planned routines (initially disrupted by schools closing for … [Read more...]