Havenswood Trust

11/06/2026

For children struggling in mainstream school, excluded, part of an EOTAS package or home educated. See our website "Whats On" section to register your interest. We'd love to see you!

07/06/2026

We desperately need more choices! Take a look at how Havenswood can support your child in or out of school.

I am 15 years old now. And I am going to be completely, brutally honest with you.

A few years ago, I did not think I would make it to age 15. I genuinely did not think I would survive.

That is how broken I was by a mainstream school system that completely destroyed who I was.

Every single day back then was sensory exhaustion. The buzzing lights. The screaming corridors. The constant, crushing pressure to mask my traits and pretend to be someone else's normal. I was just acting just to avoid being punished. I was drowning inside while teachers told my mum I was fine just because I sat quietly.

Mainstream schools can work for some children if they get the proper help and funding straight away, but every young person is different! What might work for one won't work for another!

My specialist secondary school saved my life. Honestly, it did save my life. It gave me a safe place to breathe. It gave me my future back.

But sitting in my bedroom right now, the truth hits me so heavily. And it makes me completely terrified.

I am looking at the government's proposed SEND reforms. I am looking at pieces of paper written by people in warm offices who want to change the laws to save money.

They want to push everyone into mainstream schools with generic support packages. They want to make it harder to get specialist placements. They think training teachers for a few hours will suddenly make a chaotic environment safe for a SEND mind. It will not.

Thousands of children are sitting at home in dark bedrooms right now. Completely burned out. Missing months of school because the system failed them.

And your changes mean even more children are going to end up home educated.

An EHCP is the only thing these families have. If it is this hard with rights. What happens to us without them?

If you cut these legal protections to save money, you are abandoning an entire generation of children with SEND. You are letting them drown, and WE WON'T LET YOU.

Please. I am begging you. Stop looking at the spreadsheets. Look at the families, teachers, and young people this will affect/

Go to the link in my bio. Sign my UK Parliament petition. Do not let them take our rights away. Please. 💙

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/764268

01/06/2026

Join us at Cuppa + Connect this Friday. Hear more about what Havenswood is planning and how we can help support your family and your child's education. Our Sensory Library and shop will also be open. See you in Unit 27 (floor 2) The Street Community Venue at 10am. You will be made very welcome!

23/05/2026

Join Our SEND Enrichment Team

Havenswood Trust is looking to recruit volunteers with SEND teaching or support experience to join our growing team of compassionate teachers and support staff - the commitment is small - just a few hours in a morning or an afternoon session - but the impact could be life changing for a child who feels disconnected from education and their peers. At the moment these are voluntary roles, but will develop into paid positions as Havenswood grows.

We are currently focusing on small group enrichment for Key stage 2 and 3 children (age 8-14). We have a number of exciting sessions planned, designed specifically for academically able children who learn differently. This includes those struggling in mainstream education, unable to attend school full-time, those who are currently out of education altogether or being homeschooled /part of an EOTAS package. Many of the children we currently support experience anxiety, burnout, isolation and loss of confidence but are desperate to re-engage with other children and with learning in a safe space. Our aim is to help rebuild confidence, friendships, gentle socialisation and a love of learning again through calm, nurturing and creative sessions and other social activities that will start this coming Autumn term at The Street Community Venue in Scarborough. Schemes of work / lesson plans and teaching aids will be provided.

If you believe children deserve understanding, flexibility and a different way to thrive, we would love to hear from you.

Please message us directly or email: [email protected]

20/05/2026

Our next Cuppa & Connect takes place on Friday 5th June!

Come and join us for an informal chat where Julie will be talking about Havenswood Trust’s plans, the support and activities we’ll be offering, and our vision for the future Havenswood Village education support facility for neurodivergent children, young people and families. Bring your questions with you!

Our Sensory Library and sensory shop will also be open during the session for families to explore.

If you’d like to find out more about what we’re building and how to get involved, we’d love to see you there.
Unit 27 The Street Community Centre

19/05/2026

School Attendance: “The problem is that children think they have a choice.”

I heard this said recently in a discussion about school attendance on Teacher Talk Radio (that I love for the most part).

I understand the frustration behind it. I really do.

But I think the issue runs deeper than that.

Because psychologically, children do have a choice.

Not always a legal one. Not always a practical one. But a human one. They can: disconnect; mask; shutdown; avoid; comply outwardly while collapsing internally; attend physically but leave psychologically. And many do.

The issue is not that children think they have a choice. The issue is that adults sometimes believe meaningful engagement can exist without: trust, relationship, capacity, belonging, safety, relevance or hope. It cannot.

You can impose attendance. You can enforce rules. You can apply consequences. But you cannot force a child to feel emotionally safe. You cannot compel trust. You cannot sanction somebody into belonging.

And for some children, particularly neurodivergent children, traumatised children, chronically stressed children, children experiencing school placement strain or breakdown, the issue is not unwillingness. It is unsustainable overload.

That does not mean: “Children should do whatever they want.”

Children need boundaries. They need co-regulation. They need adults willing to hold expectations with care and consistency. But participation is relational. And when increasing numbers of children are unable to sustain engagement with school, we have to ask harder questions than: “How do we make them comply?”

We need to ask: “What conditions help children participate meaningfully?” “What makes a child feel psychologically safe enough to engage?” “What are children communicating through disengagement, distress or shutdown?” “And are we listening before we pathologise and call it 'EBSA'?”

Because a child losing connection with education is rarely a simple story. And reducing it to “they think they have a choice” risks missing the point entirely. We need to ask more critical questions.

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I work with families, schools and organisations navigating school attendance difficulties, neurodivergence, emotionally based distress, school placement strain and inclusive practice through ADHD Wise UK, coaching, training and neurodevelopmental formulation work.

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We need conversations that move beyond compliance alone. We need to look toward curiosity, sustainability and genuine engagement. Because we are losing our children and making assumptions, rather than really asking why.

09/05/2026

If your child is struggling with school, finding the environment overwhelming, or would benefit from therapeutic, enrichment learning in a calm, small-group setting, we would love to hear from you.

Havenswood Trust is currently planning our small enrichment learning groups for neurodivergent children and young people. These sessions are designed to provide supportive spaces for learning, creativity, regulation, friendship and confidence building.

We are particularly keen to hear from families whose children are:
• struggling to access mainstream school
• part of an EOTAS package
• home educated
• emotionally based school avoidant
• in need of gentle social opportunities and enrichment activities

If this would help your child and you would be interested in a place please contact us at [email protected]

05/05/2026

Our friends at Aska are starting this tonight! If you're a SEND Teen and want somewhere to connect make sure that you're there. To book click the link below
https://booking.setmore.com/.../5d5dcc32-6740-4069-b3f2...