Member Article

Putting the pieces together for education

Jigsaw Education (Tees Valley) is a new venture to support schools and children in providing independent education provision in the Tees Valley region.

Created by three experienced teachers, Julie Philips, Stuart Booth and Andy Ford, Jigsaw Education has taken on two teaching studios in Middlesbrough and Darlington to support the growing number of vulnerable children requiring additional support and alternative teaching.

To launch the business to schools and colleges, Jigsaw Education held an afternoon tea launch event at its Middlesbrough Centre, providing networking, advice and cream teas to over 20 SENCo, teachers and regional teaching assistants.

The key note speaker, Sue Clarke MBE, who as a team member, gave a talk on ‘Balancing the Challenge’ which gave teachers resources to use in their classrooms and helped teachers to understand the wide range of services Jigsaw Education can offer to support children and their schools.

As part of its services, Jigsaw Education is not only providing Key stage 2, Key stage 3 and GCSE standard qualification teaching, but also a therapeutic approach featuring mediation, mindfulness and creative arts to help provide alternative teaching to children who are experiencing or have experienced difficulties at their mainstream schools.

The service works with parents and schools and CAMHS to continue a momentum of care and learning in different environments to help aid the children and the teachers, schools. Jigsaw Education is able to work with small groups and one to one teaching as well as Outreach provision.

The three teachers have a wealth of expertise in their own teaching fields as well as additional experience of working with Looked after Children and those with Special Educational Needs including autism.

Julie Phillips, director says:

“ Our aim is to provide education and emotional support on an interim basis, supporting emotional resilience with therapeutic support. We have over 50 years combined of working in education and we believe we have put together a professional team and a holistic educational service that will help Tees Valley schools hugely.“

Jigsaw Education is already hard at work with a wide range of local authorities and individual schools in the Tees Valley area (and beyond) and see its services becoming a vital extension to the support offered externally from schools.

Event attendee, Vicky Houlding from Laurence Jackson School in Guisborough said:

“I am so glad I came, it’s been great to talk with other professionals and get some fresh ideas”.

Jigsaw Education is confident of its approach and once a programme and strategy has been put into place to support learners, their route back to full time education or is a realistic option.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sue Thompson .