Tuition Extra Group in Canterbury provides bespoke education for more than 350 young people across Kent and the South East. Their three sites, Haven Nook Independent Special School, Maypole Farm and the Tuition Extra Education Service, support young people who can’t access mainstream education, including those with complex needs, SEND and SEMH challenges.
Thrive is embedded across the Group and helps staff in providing therapeutic support alongside academic and vocational learning pathways, leading to outstanding outcomes and lasting positive change.
The challenge
When Amanda Thompson joined Tuition Extra, she recognised a gap in the way behaviour and emotional needs were addressed across the Group.
“There was a lack of reflection within schooling,” Amanda explains. “We needed a way to look behind a young person’s behaviour and ask why their needs weren’t being met. 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 chose Thrive because it offered tangible, easy-to-understand training and tools that made sense to practitioners. She describes the Thrive-Online assessment and monitoring tool as a ‘game changer’, as it provides measurable data on social and emotional development that links directly to positive academic progress.
Implementing the Thrive Approach
With the support of CEO Ruth Minhall, Amanda led the strategic rollout of Thrive across the Group.
“Ruth understood the value of the Thrive Approach and supported me to embed it across all our sites,” says Amanda. “As Group Thrive Lead and Trainer, I was able to identify who needed training, develop a clear implementation plan, and bring people along with me.”
The Approach was introduced to staff through Family Thrive sessions, which now form part of the Group’s induction process. The training helped staff to understand the core principles and reflective stance that underpin Thrive, 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, further strengthening relationships between home and school.
The impact
Embedding Thrive has transformed the way Tuition Extra Group staff and students interact.
“Thrive has enabled the Group to work together in a collaborative, inclusive way,” Amanda says. “It’s created a systematic, pragmatic approach that is consistent for all staff. This consistency has helped meet the needs of our young people, and we’ve seen academic outcomes rise as a result. 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.”
Individual student stories highlight the life-changing impact of Thrive. One young man who initially struggled to focus for more than five minutes built his concentration up to two hours over the course of a year. He went on to complete 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 selective mute, is now studying musical theatre at sixth form college.
“A few years ago, I would never have dreamed of doing such a thing,” she says. “If I didn’t go to the school, I really don’t know where I would have been in terms of my mental health.”
.png)
Parents have also noticed a difference. Kelly, who has benefited from Tuition Extra’s in-house Family Thrive programme, and whose two neurodiverse children attend Maypole Farm, describes Thrive as “the cherry on the cake”.
“I’m seeing confidence, I’m seeing resilience – all those buzzwords that were missing in my children,” she says. “We’ve got a long way to go, but my gosh, we’ve come a long way in a year.”
Looking ahead
Amanda and the Tuition Extra Group team are passionate about continuing to expand the reach of the Thrive Approach. Future ambitions include further embedding Thrive across the Group as its sites develop and the organisation grows. Building on successful parent and carer relationships with high impact outreach forms a key part of the Group’s strategy. In addition, the emotional regulation that supports young people to engage and flourish within education is a continued focus for the Tuition Extra Group. Their goal remains consistent: to enhance academic outcomes to challenge and change life chances for the better.
“Across the Tuition Extra Group, Thrive is a fundamental, foundational aspect of our academic approach,” says Amanda. “It allows students to succeed regardless of their background or history, and it prioritises their mental wellbeing. Thrive removes the barriers to learning that so many young people face in the 21st century.”
Thrive's whole school SEMH provision for special schools
If you've been inspired by Tuition Extra Group and want to join the 75,000+ educators already impacting the lives of children and young people, you're in the right place.
Thrive's whole school SEMH provision for special schools provides both universal and targeted support for every pupil. The evidence-backed provision equips your staff with the training and tools to identify and respond to SEMH needs effectively, resulting in better attendance and behaviour, and improved student and staff wellbeing.
For more details and to secure your place on the next cohort, click below.
_680.jpg)
_680.png)
_680.png)
