Mary Rose Academy

At UKSA we are so much more than education; we focus on the growth and development of young people. Our aim is to remove barriers, both financial and social, to enable any young person from any background to achieve their very personal best and gain life enhancing experiences, qualifications, and employment. We know that many children and young people are missing out on life changing opportunities because schools, local authorities and parents simply cannot afford to pay for them. Our aim is to remove both financial and social barriers to enable young people from any background to benefit from a residential trip at UKSA.

We welcomed Mary Rose Academy to our brand new Sea.Change accommodation block in the summer and caught up with their leader, Kirsty for an insight into their trip.

“My name is Kirsty and I’m the assistant principal from a special needs school in Portsmouth called Mary Rose Academy. The school is for young people aged 2 to 19 who have a whole host of different abilities and needs ranging from severe and complex physical and medical needs.

All the pupils were excited to come over to the Isle of Wight on the ferry. They really enjoyed the travelling experience and got more and more excited as the island got closer!

The new Sea.Change accommodation block has been brilliant for our young people. The rooms are spacious, and the beds are really comfortable, and it’s made our stay truly great. The accessible rooms have been brilliant, allowing our stay here to be a lot easier and more comfortable for both our students and staff members.

The activities have helped our young people build their water-confidence, communication and self-esteem, and it’s been great for them to work with different people. The instructors have been great and so accommodating by meeting all of our needs. It’s helped to build the pupils confidence in staying away from home and to focus on enjoying the many fun activities with their friends.

The funding has been incredible and has enabled our young people that might not have had the opportunity to come away on a trip like this to realize their dream and to take part in an amazing experience here at UKSA.

All our pupils have found the activities challenging in all different ways but in challenging themselves in having a go they really enjoyed it. There’s nothing that they haven’t liked.

The instructors have been incredible, they have helped make the trip brilliant! They have all listened to our feedback and ideas and have been really flexible in making sure all of the activities are well suited to meet our needs and take make sure it’s the best fun for everyone taking part.

The food has been brilliant, there’s always been lots of choice for everybody and if there hasn’t been something we’ve needed, the staff team in the kitchen have been accommodating and it suddenly magically appears and we couldn’t have asked for more, so thank you!

The children have really come out of their shell this week, they have all grown in confidence and have loved every minute. They’ll certainly be sad when leaving here as they head home tomorrow but the memories that have been created for them is more than we can ask for.”

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