Toucan Education

Toucan Education is an alternative provision that specialises in providing a bespoke and unique package for young people.

About us

The provision works across three bases Hub 1 in Ouseburn, Hub 2 in Blaydon and our forest school. The staff at Toucan Education are highly skilled and have a background in working with children with SEN needs. Specialists include Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, autism specialists, dyslexia specialists and assessors and SEMH specialists. Toucan Education has a range of primary and secondary teachers able to meet the needs of students from the age of 5 to 16. The site at Blaydon is registered with OFSTED as an early years childcare provider which means we are part of the inspection format. Our offer ranges from a half-day session up to 17 hours access. We have children attending who are in mainstream school and just need a small amount of support, children who are excluded, children who are unable to attend school due to anxiety, children who are waiting for a special school place or an arms unit. We create a bespoke curriculum to try and meet the needs of our most disengaged students. This focuses around entrepreneurial skills, the local community, accessing the workplace, social skills and health and well-being. Elements of maths and English are provided through this where possible. When students are ready they access bespoke one-to-one tutoring support from a teacher. Children are expected to meet certain academic targets or activities throughout the week. We can support students to access functional skills exams but we are not accredited to provide this.

Impact, Outcomes and Key Performance Indicators

At Toucan Education we create a pen portrait and set targets when a student begins to access our offer. We use Boxall profiles to track and monitor progress and measure impact. Our goal is for all students to attend something that meets their social needs and helps them set goals and plans for the future. We help students think about their next steps and help them transition to a full time school place as well as thinking about their aspirations for the future

How to access

A referral from is completed. After considering the application we carry out a visit at school or home and gather any information we feel we need additionally. We then look at the need and where this can fit into timetable. We provide a bespoke package so the offer can be different each time. In addition to our groups (no more than 10-12) we can met needs in other ways. Some students start working in the community, some at end of sessions when the hub space is quiet, or within our forest school offer, with a range of one hour to 17 hours. We also offer tutoring, pet therapy and music, along with access to other holistic methods of teaching. All sessions are face to face. Once a proposal is submitted and accepted we start the onboarding process. This full process can take under two weeks. Once we offer a space there are two weeks to accept it as we have always have a waiting list.

How we deliver

We provide 1 hour to 17 hours and the way this is done can differ. Students may attend three days 9.30-3pm, some days run 10am-2pm. Some students may start with a half a day and build up. Some students may begin with staff visiting at home and then a transition into the hub. Our Ouseburn Hub runs 9.30- 3 and tends to meet the needs of mainstream children who need extra support for dyslexia, dyspraxia or speech and language. Our Hub 2 meets the needs more for our older students with some SEMH needs and who tend to be not attending school. However we place where the need fits. Our Blaydon hub has a large movement room and art room which means we can cater for more needs as well as a safer outside space.

How we report attendance