Belong Learning facilitates learning environments in a range of settings, such as community-based locations, specialised provisions, and students’ homes, as well as at school. In all those, we utilise high levels of scaffolding and support, both academic and behavioural. We provide our students with a broad and rich curriculum that is distinct from mainstream education not by what we teach, but by how we deliver it. The Belong Way is built around our ethos of Placing the student at the centre of the decisions about their learning. We use a person-centered approach to support our young people, enabling them to be consulted, informed and make their own choices by having a voice. By doing this, we aim to support our young people to discover their own solutions to the problems that they face, supporting them on their journey. This doesn’t mean that our schools are without boundaries or structures; it means that we are focussed upon the learning and development we want to achieve by working with our students. 

Young people frequently begin their time at our schools after a number of episodes of challenge and difficulty at previous educational placements, often causing feelings of rejection and resentment. The first mission is to build positive perceptions and attitudes through the hard work of our school’s highly dedicated and skilled staff teams. The commitment to belonging is not limited to the direct work with students; a close, trusting and honest relationship with parents, carers and family serves to hold and maintain a student’s provision. As such, our education provisions are often the right place at the right time to deliver and facilitate the support that children and young people need, as part of an integrated Local Authority offer.

At Belong learning’s schools, each student’s provision is crafted to match their interests, needs and aspirations and provide them with the accreditations and skills to enable them to thrive at school and be prepared for life beyond it.  Our Schools in Gloucestershire and Devon combine small group learning and one-to-one support to enable academic, social and emotional learning. We offer a broad and varied curriculum geared towards qualifications and life-long learning.

A student’s Education Health and Care Plan provides us with the starting point for developing each bespoke provision. A dedicated pastoral team works with each student and their family to craft a successful transition to full time education, acting as pastoral link, advocate and home-school liaison. A team of highly skilled learning coaches will be involved with the delivery of a student’s provision alongside our subject-specific teaching staff, providing a consistent and trusted group of adults from day one.

We provide a specialist learning environment that to the child feels and looks informal, but which is carefully and precisely crafted. Each child has a bespoke curriculum consisting of our core offer (maths, English & usually science), and a selection of GCSE, vocational or accredited subjects alongside our bespoke Character Education curriculum, and a wide range of activities and experiences both on and off site. Formal timetabled lessons take place for all students accessing on site, 1:1 in small groups, in the community or home based learning.

In addition to our broad and personalised curriculum, Belong Schools offer a range of interventions and foundation support programmes, including both therapeutic responses targeted to specific needs and preventative interventions to support ongoing wellbeing. 

As a school catering for students with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs, our Qualified Mental Health First Aider plays a key role in developing and targeting our therapeutic interventions. Therapeutic support sessions include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Horse Therapy, Art Therapy, Music Therapy and Play Therapy. As a school we work closely with outside agencies who offer support and advice on Special Educational Needs. We may access support from Educational Psychologists, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, the School Nursing Team and Speech and Language Therapists. 

With our schools catering for students with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs, our pastoral teams play a key role in developing and targeting our therapeutic interventions. Belong Schools offer a wide range of therapeutic support sessions, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Horse Therapy, Art Therapy, Music Therapy and Play Therapy. As a school we work closely with outside agencies who offer support and advice on Special Educational Needs. We may access support from Educational Psychologists, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, the School Nursing Team and Speech and Language Therapists.

It is the responsibility of all Belong School staff to provide effective Safeguarding and Child Protection and is an integral part of our daily practice. All Belong School staff perform their duties to create educational communities where all children can Learn, Grow and Thrive. As part of that duty, we take our responsibility to safeguard children very seriously. All our staff are aware of their statutory responsibilities and are properly trained in recognising and reporting safeguarding concerns, and know it is important to take appropriate action, in a timely manner, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. For more detailed information, please see the Safeguarding Policies for Belong School Devon and Belong School Gloucestershire.

For more information about online safety, please see our online safety policy