Holly Norris is the Assistant Head of Year 8 at Kettering Science Academy, a mainstream secondary school in the Brooke Weston Trust.
Working at the heart of the pastoral team, she supports students’ wellbeing, behaviour and safeguarding needs, working closely with colleagues and external agencies to ensure joined-up support.
To deepen her knowledge and extend her impact across her school and the wider trust, Holly enrolled on the Thrive Wellbeing Leadership Level 5 Apprenticeship.
Why a Thrive apprenticeship?
Holly’s decision to apply for a Thrive apprenticeship was rooted in both ambition to progress her career and a personal passion for championing social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) support.
Having struggled at school herself, Holly is driven to ensure the young people she works with have a positive experience throughout secondary school.
“I want to be that member of staff they look back on and say, ‘Miss Norris helped me. She was there, she got it.’”
The Thrive Wellbeing Leadership programme combines Thrive Licensed Practitioner training with a nationally recognised Level 5 Operations Manager apprenticeship. For Holly, this was the ideal blend of science-backed, relational practice and the leadership skills needed to drive whole-school change.
“I want to be able to lead inclusive change and bring Thrive within our setting,” said Holly. “Having the leadership qualification and the Thrive element will really help me to implement it within our school and across our trust. It’s something that will help me educate other staff members and really make a difference,” she added.
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Putting worries to rest
While Holly was excited to start the apprenticeship, she also had some reservations. Holly is autistic and also has dyslexia and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), which made her worry about keeping up with the assignments and deadlines.
However, regular check-ins with her tutor at Best Practice Network and the structure of the Thrive sessions have made the programme accessible and achievable.
“My tutor is amazing. We check in regularly and she explains everything really clearly. I’ve received a lot of support and the course is really manageable so I don’t feel snowed under."
Practical application
The apprenticeship blends structured learning with hands-on experience, enabling Holly to apply new strategies immediately in her role.
“I’m using Thrive every day – in how I listen, how I’m empathetic, how I speak to young people. I find it so easy to implement in my day-to-day role.”
She has also begun supporting her colleagues to better understand neurodiversity, attachment theory and trauma-informed practice, helping them to understand why a student might struggle to sit still, regulate their emotions, or respond calmly in challenging situations.
By reframing behaviour through a developmental lens, she supports staff to respond with curiosity rather than defaulting to sanctions.
“Teachers aren’t taught this in their training. Being able to educate them on attachment and trauma gives them a wider understanding and helps them to think that there’s something more going on.”
The impact so far
Holly has already noticed the impact of her learning. Students actively seek her out, drawn to her relational approach which makes them feel heard and understood. Rather than escalating behaviour through sanctions, Holly works to build connection first, and has seen students develop their ability to regulate and reflect.
“Even when a student is dysregulated and swears at me, I’ll come back and say, ‘Shall we sit down? What happened? What went wrong?’ I remind them I’m here to help, not to be sworn at, and that I’ll always support them. One of my Year 8 girls hasn’t sworn at me since. She’s still learning to manage her emotions, but she’s getting better. If I’d just sanctioned her, we wouldn’t have got anywhere.”
Holly’s learning has also influenced how she works with adults. Through the leadership component of the apprenticeship, Holly has applied Thrive principles to managing teams, supporting colleagues and has even given her partner advice on how to manage a team in his engineering role.
Creating systemic change
The learning Holly has gained through the apprenticeship is already shaping school development.
She has proposed the introduction of a Re-Engage Room, a reflective space for students who are dysregulated or returning from suspension. Instead of isolation, the focus would be on restorative conversations, emotional literacy and reflection.
“Not every young person is having those reflective conversations at home, so we want to create a space where we can reset expectations in a meaningful, supportive way, and help them to reflect, learn and get back to thriving in school.”
Alongside this, she’s working with her SENCO to explore introducing Thrive assessments for incoming Year 7 students, enabling early identification of needs during the transition from primary school.
A message to others considering the apprenticeship
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For Holly, the Thrive Wellbeing Leadership Apprenticeship is more than a qualification. It’s a pathway to personal and professional growth, inclusive leadership and meaningful change for young people.
“I would 100% advise anyone to do it. It’s helped me support young people, staff and myself in so many ways. Do it for your professional development, but also do it for yourself as an individual. No one can take that knowledge and understanding away once you’ve got it.”
Last chance to join the Thrive Wellbeing Leadership Apprenticeship before it's defunded
As Holly's story shows, the Thrive Wellbeing Leadership Apprenticeship is a powerful pathway to creating meaningful change across schools, trusts and communities.
However, the government has confirmed that the Level 5 Operations Manager apprenticeship is being defunded.
A limited number of places remain on the final cohort. To learn more about whether this apprenticeship is right for you, watch our on-demand Virtual Open Day to hear more about the programme and its impact.
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