TCES: Proud to be a social enterprise

TCES’ legal constitution as defined by our Articles of Association is that of a #socialenterprise, whose mission is to create wide-scale social impact through pioneering inclusive practices.
 
As a social enterprise our TCES mission is simple, to put the inclusion of #neurodiverse children at the heart of everything we do.

You’ll see that in our refusal to exclude (no permanent exclusions in this, our 24th year), our therapeutic education approach and in our continual re-investment in tangible projects that we know make a real difference.

Three initiatives that I’m particularly proud of this year are the following:

✅ The introduction of a Level 3 to Level 5 Award Certificate and Diploma in Therapeutic Education and Group Process for our teaching assistants, and pastoral teams.

Working in conjunction with Crossfields Institute (CFI), we’re ensuring that staff at all levels of TCES have an expert understanding of our pupils and how best to support them to reach their potential.

✅ Growing our Alumni Mentor and ‘Student to staff’ employee scheme.

Alongside our two former students who became our first full-time Alumni Mentor employees with their own mentoring caseload, we’re also continually training current students to be Alumni Mentors.

Having a role model who understands their experience has proved transformative for some of our current students. I’m also delighted that another of our students has recently become the first Alumni Mentor for our TCES Home Learning online school and that we have five Peer Mentors in the wings, waiting to take on new roles as Alumni Mentor Volunteers.

✅ Introducing new opportunities for our Post-16 students to develop life and work skills.

The TCES Hub café in Acton is coming up to its first anniversary and there’s no doubt that it’s been a significant addition to our Post-16 offer. Just this term our students planned, prepared, served (and did the washing up!) for a full-day Governing Board meeting.

The Hub cafe is already opened to the local community and students plan to invite local businesses to have their meetings in The Hub after Easter too.

Working in a live café environment, supported by TCES staff is providing an unique opportunity to learn a wide range of skills and gain qualifications.
I’m confident that when the time comes, each one of these students will leave us with an impressive CV that proves they can be valuable members of the workforce. #specialeducationalneeds #wenevergiveup #education #send #autism #inclusion #socialimpact