Nottingham family business opens alternative education centre

An alternative education centre in Nottingham for teenagers is being established by a family business that has over 10 years of experience in the children’s care sector.

This week, Younas & Schofield Group is launching SHAPE (Safe Haven Alternative Provision of Excellence) in Alfreton Road, Radford, to improve the prospects of 14-16-year-olds who have been permanently excluded from school.

Many of these teenagers will have displayed signs of disruptive behaviour, violence, truancy, gang or drug-related offences, while others may have been the victims of bullying or suffer from anxieties that make mainstream schooling difficult.

SHAPE will become the first such centre for alternative provision (AP) launched under the Safe Haven brand, which also operates over 100 semi-independent homes, children’s homes and supported living units across the UK that support vulnerable and disadvantaged young people.

SHAPE, which currently has a capacity for around 50 Key Stage 4 students, will offer a curriculum based on the needs of individual pupils, in addition to English and Maths, which are a statutory requirement.

Harvey Schofield, who has been appointed head of provision at the new centre, said: “The high demand for alternative provision is shockingly sad, not least in Nottingham.

“There’s a massive shortage of AP for youngsters who have been permanently excluded from mainstream schooling. We want to show these young people and their families that there is life beyond things like gangs and selling drugs. We will try to give every one of them the best chance possible for their future.”