A New Approach to Education

The education programme at Urban Pursuit has typically focused on young people who are struggling in a mainstream education setting. Since September, we have been responding to a request to provide a more tailored programme for a teenage student with additional needs and complex learning difficulties.

This was a first for the Urban Pursuit team, but through collaboration with the school and a willingness to learn, we are now successfully midway through our second term with a young man named Cieron. It has been a rewarding and wholly positive experience for the staff at Urban Pursuit to see Cieron regularly challenge himself in ways he often hasn’t been able to in a classroom setting. What a joy to witness these new achievements!

Although Cieron enjoys school and has built strong and trusting relationships with his teachers, his level of energy and desire to explore was proving difficult in a classroom environment. The beauty of joint working between Urban Pursuit and Cieron’s school meant that we could work together to plan days out that take calculated risks, whilst ensuring Cieron’s safety. This provides new challenges, rich experiences and lots of fun!

Our days with Cieron are something we all look forward to at Urban Pursuit. His enthusiasm for life is contagious and his ability to adapt and try new things is incredibly refreshing, especially in the face of his challenges. He has climbed high ropes, ridden mountain bikes, clambered to the top of Sugarloaf, Abergavenny, sawn wood independently to make camp fires, along with so many other activities that perhaps none of us knew were possible. The staff working with Cieron have all reflected not just on his ability to find the joy in everything he does but the huge strength he has in connecting with people. On a trip to the helicopter museum, Cieron was determined to convince the museum volunteers to give us a test drive in one of the helicopters. By the end of the visit we knew every staff member’s name and I don’t think any of us would have been surprised if we’d seen him flying home that day!

We have learned a lot from Cieron and hope he has gained as much from us at Urban Pursuit. There is hope we can keep building on these positive experiences and supporting him to learn and grow. Thank you to Cieron’s school and family for trusting us with this new way of working and we hope this may be the start of something bigger for us at Urban Pursuit.

If your school is looking for an alternative way to support students like Cieron, we’d love to explore how we can work together.

Wondering about how we could work well alongside your school?

Check out OUR PROGRAMME or get in touch with us directly to discuss options for how we could specifically support your school and students 👉 0117 239 0932 or office@urbanpursuit.co.uk