Discovering potential at Seedlings Educational

Studies report threats to pupil wellbeing in schools and rising mental needs, child mental health neglect, and a crisis in child and adolescent mental health and services.

These concerns, albeit well-founded and highly valid reflections warranting profound analysis, generally only provoke a rather disjointed and confused debate, which offers little direction or effectual solutions.

Time and resources are under pressure responding to crisis after crisis featuring a concoction of rapid responses – an approach that mostly only offers short-term outcomes, short-lived results and concessions rather than lasting solutions. Services are overwhelmed by responding to these crises.

There is an adequate focus on treatment, but an absence of resolve to confront the fundamental issues as we grapple with the causal factors.

This is at a time when resources are particularly stretched across services; education, health and social care, and the family as the focal point and foundation for growth and development exist within a strained structure.

What we do have, however, is a considerable amount of research – enough to help us refine the tools and resources we have that have not been exhausted in order to make a positive impact and give children a good start in life.

It is well documented that the family matters enormously; how strong and stable it is dictates the course and success of the development of the child. It is therefore vital for schools and families to develop and reinforce a robust home-school partnership.

Our goal is to empower and support the family and the school to bring about mutual appreciation and understanding of the challenges faced by both. We seek to redirect focus to what can be achieved collaboratively and allow for a more positive, mutually supportive partnership towards achieving a shared goal: the wellbeing and schooling of all children.

Our mission is to mobilise an exhaustive partnership approach to education and care through effective home–school liaison to ensure that every child receives the best possible quality care and support in elementary education so that all aspects of developmental growth and skills development – physical, social, emotional and cognitive – may be maximised, allowing children to start school unburdened, ready and receptive, able to find their own special place in the classroom, the school community, and beyond.

We envision a world where families are empowered and can provide the nurture, love, stability and security that all children need and deserve to thrive, as well as supportive, safe, enabling learning environments where children receive ‘unconditional positive regard’ so that they can truly develop and fulfil their full potential and lead meaningful and productive lives.