Have you ever had a time when you felt overwhelmed by your emotions and the world around you? Imagine experiencing these feelings whilst in a busy school environment; jumping from subject to subject, classroom to classroom, the pressure of exams and other challenges that for some young people school also presents.

It is for these exact reasons, that Learn with Confidence was set up. As a not-for-profit education organisation, Learn with Confidence provides education opportunities for students in and around our local area who, for whatever reason, are struggling to attend mainstream schools – often this is caused by anxiety or other social and mental health wellbeing issues.

They have just completed the process of exam awarding for their year 11 students (following the government cancellation of exams this year), which has been no mean feat, and have grown exponentially since opening only in September 2020.

Whilst this is great, it really exemplifies the big problem we are having, both in Sussex and nationally, where some young people are struggling with their mental health and for whom, a traditional (and for some even a specialist) school is not a place they cope with.

After speaking with Kat Perry, the Founder of Learn with Confidence she said, “Our small centre is an environment that is calm, quiet and gentle, with teachers that teach 1-2-1 and in very small groups, and enable the student to access education whilst also dealing with the challenges of their own mental or physical health.”

“We advocate a student-centred approach and offer  their families support in navigating the education system in a way that works for their child.”

Kat is also working with WSCC to enable students with specialist funding to use their services
to enable a wider range of people to access their education at the centre.

Kat added, “We are a not-for-profit organisation and our ethos is to be there for the needs of the community, with an aim to increase our services by reinvesting any profits to bring in outside agencies including counsellors, and to be able to offer well-being classes.”