At Alltnacriche, we have always been interested in contributing to the local community and offering support when we can. The centre is located in a stunning area of Scotland, not far from Aviemore, with amazing scenery, wildlife and of course great outdoor activity opportunities. However, families in small rural communities can struggle to find the right support for young people who may be neurodivergent or have other particular needs, and schools don’t always have the right resources to support them.

During the Covid-19 pandemic our delivery patterns shifted, creating an opportunity to offer support to young people in nearby communities in need of additional support. What we did then was quite reactive, but now with some experience, feedback and reflection, we’ve been able to develop a new programme called Growing Together.

When a young person is dealing with a stressful situation, the people around them can respond to the crisis and offer support. This is often about managing or containing the problem, but that isn’t really the best moment to help them. We think the best moment comes earlier on the journey and is much more about preventing the crisis than responding to it.

The Growing Together programme supports SU Scotland’s Discover-Explore-Respond-Flourish framework. At its heart is co-regulation, an approach that helps young people to discover how to regulate their emotions, alongside the adults who work with them, who are regulating their emotions in the same way. We offered each of the local primary schools four places on the programme for young people. The feedback from the programme has been extremely positive.

Chenelle McMaster, Depute Headteacher at Aviemore Primary School, said, ‘Thank you so much to the Alltnacriche team for providing the Growing Together programme for some of our young people. The children definitely came back to school with increased self-confidence and a greater enthusiasm to engage in learning. The children said, “We learnt new skills, and it was fun to be out and active.” The change of environment was so positive and appreciated. They were asking when they could go back to Alltnacriche.’

‘Our son was so unsettled and unhappy, he was saying he didn’t want to live this life anymore. The difference coming to Alltnacriche has made to him is incredible. When I pick him up, he’s bouncing-loving life and happy. I can’t express the positive impact Dave, Shula and the team have made. I will forever be grateful for the experiences he’s having and the opportunity to take part is invaluable to us both.’
– Parent

– blog post by Dave Moss, Centre Director at Alltnacriche

Interested in the Growing Together programme for your pupils, or wondering about how we can support your pupils with Additional Support Needs at our centres? Get in touch – we’d love to hear from you and support you and your pupils.