Tuition Extra Group
Unlocking potential and transforming futures with Thrive
Tuition Extra Group provides bespoke education for young people across Kent and the South East. Across its three sites, Haven Nook Independent Special School, Maypole Farm and the Tuition Extra Education Service, the Group supports young people who cannot access mainstream education, including those with complex needs, SEND and SEMH challenges.
By embedding Thrive across the Group, staff are able to provide therapeutic support alongside academic and vocational learning pathways. This has helped young people regulate, engage and achieve strong outcomes.
The Context
Tuition Extra Group supports young people with a wide range of needs, including SEND, SEMH challenges and complex barriers to learning.
When Amanda Thompson joined Tuition Extra, she recognised a gap in the way behaviour and emotional needs were being understood across the Group.
Staff needed a more reflective and consistent way to look beyond behaviour and understand why a young person’s needs were not being met.
- Location: Canterbury
- Pupils: 350
- Thrive introduced: 2020
- Licensed Practitioners: 20
Why Thrive?
Amanda chose Thrive because it offered practical, science-based knowledge that staff could understand and apply.
The team needed an approach that could help them respond to behaviour with curiosity, consistency and confidence, while supporting students to feel safe enough to learn.
Thrive-Online was also a key part of the decision. Amanda describes it as a “game changer” because it gives staff measurable data on social and emotional development and links this directly to academic progress.
“Thrive provides clear, science-based knowledge that breaks down taboos and helps us to reach and defuse difficult behaviours quicker, enabling students to access their learning.”
proven impact
How Thrive was implemented
With the support of CEO Ruth Minhall, Amanda led the strategic rollout of Thrive across the Group.
- Thrive was rolled out across all three Tuition Extra sites, with Amanda identifying who needed training and developing a clear implementation plan.
- The Approach was introduced to staff through Family Thrive sessions, helping colleagues understand the core principles and reflective stance that underpin Thrive.
- Family Thrive now forms part of the Group’s induction process, creating consistency and shared purpose across all settings.
- Amanda also delivers Family Thrive to parents and carers in the community as part of her outreach work, strengthening relationships between home and school.
Thrive provides clear, science-based knowledge that breaks down taboos and helps us to reach and defuse difficult behaviours quicker, enabling students to access their learning.
Amanda Thompson
Group Thrive Lead, Family Outreach and Trainer, Tuition Extra Group
REMOVING BARRIERS TO LEARNING
A reflective approach to behaviour
Embedding Thrive has transformed the way Tuition Extra Group staff and students interact.
The Approach has helped the Group work in a more collaborative and inclusive way, giving staff a shared understanding and a consistent response across all sites.
For Amanda, this consistency has been central to meeting young people’s needs and improving outcomes.
Impact on students
Tuition Extra Group has seen strong academic outcomes alongside individual stories of change.
Across the Group, 86% of students achieved grades 9-4 in GCSEs or Level 2 equivalents, compared to the national average of 14% for those with an EHCP.
One young man initially struggled to focus for more than five minutes. Over the course of a year, he built his concentration up to two hours, completed his BTEC Level 2 in Hospitality and achieved a Distinction. He now has the drive to work hard on his English and Maths and has aspirations for the future.
Another student, Megan, who was previously selectively mute, is now studying musical theatre at sixth form college.
A FOUNDATIONAL PART OF THE ACADEMIC APPROACH
Looking ahead
Amanda and the Tuition Extra Group team are continuing to expand the reach of Thrive as the organisation grows.
Future plans include further embedding Thrive across the Group’s developing sites and building on successful outreach work with parents and carers.
The focus remains on emotional regulation as the foundation for engagement, learning and long-term success.
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