The End of Our First Year: What Our Learners, Families and Educators Told Us

At the end of our first full year, we asked everyone at The Haven to tell us how it’s really going. Learners, parent carers and our educators, all anonymously if they preferred, with a magic-wand question about what they would change. We promised to read every word. We did, and we want to share what came back, including the parts we’re still working on.

Every learner who responded told us that being at The Haven feels much better than school before. All of them said they feel safe and comfortable in lessons, that they can join in the way that works for them, camera off, typing in the chat, taking a break, and that learning here makes them curious or excited about something. Every one of them said there’s an adult here who really knows them, and that adults listen when something isn’t working.

Asked for the best thing about The Haven, they told us: the kindness, the community, and this, from one learner, which we’ll be holding onto for a long time:

“The feeling of safety, and I don’t feel like I need to mask.”

That is what a gentle reintroduction to learning is for. Not pressure, not catching up, just a place safe enough that the mask can finally come off, and learning can start again underneath it.

Every family who responded said their child’s wellbeing has improved since joining, and every one would recommend The Haven to another family in their situation. Every family told us the start felt gentle and went at their child’s pace, and that they feel listened to, part of their child’s team, and never judged as parents.

The changes they described are the ones that matter at home, not just in lessons. Children talking about what they’re learning. Making a friend, sometimes a first friend. Recovering after lessons instead of shutting down. Leaving their room, or the house, more often. Sleeping and eating more easily. Speaking up for what they need.

One family simply wrote: “Given us our child back.”

Another told us: “The Haven has made my child feel part of a community again… She is encouraged to rest and advocate for herself.”

Almost all of our educators are neurodivergent themselves, and this year that showed in both directions. Everyone who responded said they are proud to work at The Haven, that they believe in what we’re trying to do, and that learners are safe here. One educator wrote that working here has “changed my relationship to education”, and that they no longer feel “a misfit or ‘too much'”. When the adults in the room have stopped masking too, young people can feel it.

We asked what you would change, and you told us. Families want a broader range of subjects, including a functional English option, and more regular one-to-one updates about progress. Some families carrying fees themselves were honest that the cost is a real weight, and we hear that; it is exactly why we work with schools through alternative provision, with local authorities through EOTAS, and keep pushing for more funded places. Learners asked us to make sure they always know what’s coming in advance, and, rather wonderfully, wished the friends they’ve made here lived closer. Our team asked us to keep investing in their development and in our systems as we grow.

All of that is now on our plan for year two, and we’ll keep answering honestly about how it’s going. We would rather be a school that publishes its magic-wand answers than one that pretends it doesn’t need any.

Thank you. For the box-ticks, the long answers, the honesty and the kindness. One learner ended their survey with: “Thank you so much for the support and a space to feel safe.” The thanks goes both ways.

If your young person has been out of school for a while and you’re wondering whether learning could feel possible again, Back to Balance is our gentle twelve-week reintroduction, and we’re always happy to talk. No pressure, no deadlines, just a conversation when you’re ready.