New vocational hub offering support to young people away from mainstream education opens its doors
Oak Activities has opened its ninth base of operation in Cambridgeshire.
A new vocational hub has opened its doors to students in Peterborough.
As of Tuesday (January 21) alternative education provider Oak Activities has officially open its newest base in Peterborough at Phorpres Close in Hampton.
The unit has been lovingly kitted out to provide students with a dedicated kitchen for catering qualifications, a salon to learn hair and beauty and space for construction such as carpentry, tiling as well as painting and decorating.
The new hub will offer a space for children, from key stage 3 up to 5 who are perhaps struggling in mainstream education, need extra support or have other needs such as an Education, Health and Care Plan and would benefit from learning in a smaller, more nurturing environment.
All students are able to study BTEC, AQA level qualifications as well as ensuring they have also passed their Functional Skills qualifications and receive PSHE (personal, social, health, and economic) education.
Young people will be referred to the service by Peterborough City Council for support by Oak staff, who are all trained in emotional literacy and Cambridgeshire Therapeutic Thinking.
Placements at the centre can range from around 12 weeks to a year. A large number of the students Oak works with are awaiting a place in a specialist school, with places often not always available at any given time.
The unit will employ six members of staff and provide support for around 24 children each day.
Oak Activities Director, Tom Milner, who started the company in 2015, said: “There is nothing like this in Peterborough.
"Our purpose is to raise the game. We are not a stop gap. We are here to support our students, we are very child focused and we want our children to work with us based on their needs and their likes and, when they come out, they are well-rounded people well set up for the next stage of their education or lives.
“Alternative provision is hugely important. It is frowned upon at times but it is the next step between mainstream and secondary school.
“We are a safe space for children. We can offer them safety, security, consistency with their adults and food if they are not having it at home.
“There is a lot more to a child than people often think. It is not just about saying oh well that’s a naughty child, we say they are a child that needs support.”
Oak has nine sites and almost 100 members of staff across Cambridgeshire.
These sites include a base in Orton, which is focused on academics and supporting children struggling at home or with with EBSA (Emotionally Based School Avoidance) through anxiety or mental health needs. Oak work with these students at home before transitioning them to their hub, with the ultimate view to going back into school.
There is another secondary school age hub in Yaxley focused on theraputic emotional literacy as well as functional skills.
There are primary (school age) hubs in Paston and Bretton (Eyrescroft) that focus on emotional support helping pupils to understand their emotions as well as access basic skills.
Other locations in which Oak operate are Huntingdon, Cambridge, St Ives and Witchford.
To find out more, visit https://oakactivities.com/.