As we wrap up the year and look back at everything our young people have achieved, it is clear that 2024 to 2025 has been a year full of movement, momentum and meaningful progress across Storyy’s Alternative Provision. The progress genuinely speaks for itself.
Every young person who joins us arrives with a story shaped by challenge, transition or uncertainty. Our role is never to rewrite that story. Instead, we help them steady the page so they can keep writing the next chapter in a calm, consistent and supported way. This year, those chapters have included confidence building, new skills, renewed engagement and more bright moments than fairy lights on a Christmas tree.
A Year of Real Progress in Numbers
Across our Alternative Provision, the scale of progress has been remarkable. Since September, we have received 194 referrals and supported 138 young people across our sites. We have welcomed 99 new students, reintegrated 45 back into education settings and provided outreach support to 33 learners within their own communities.
Our teams have delivered 96 assemblies in 41 schools, reaching more than 16,936 students with vital messages about wellbeing, safety and resilience. Learners have achieved an incredible 440 AQA certificates and five students successfully completed their exams with us, supported by targeted tuition for 12 others. We already have 10 new learners joining next term.
These achievements reflect far more than statistics. They represent courage, consistency and young people choosing to show up for themselves, even when it feels hard. You could say they truly sleighed it this year.
Storyybrook: A Year of Curiosity and Kindness
At Storyybrook, our primary provision has been full of creativity, exploration and emotional growth. Young peeople have taken part in imaginative seasonal projects, explored topics like space, oceans and cultures around the world and built confidence through storytelling, practical activities and outdoor learning.
We have also introduced simple but meaningful routines such as the Daily Mile to boost focus and wellbeing, plus Kindness Coins and a Respecting Others Checklist to encourage empathy and positive choices. These small moments of consistency have helped children develop emotional regulation, teamwork and a strong sense of belonging.
Secondary and Trades: Skills, Confidence and Real-World Learning
Across our secondary and Trades provisions, the focus has been on practical skills, confidence building and preparing for next steps. Young people have explored important PSHE topics such as hate crime awareness, online safety, emotional wellbeing and future career options. Conversations have been thoughtful, respectful and often deeply insightful.
Alongside this, learners have developed practical independence skills in cooking, budgeting, fitness, teamwork and problem solving. Our Trades students have taken on real projects that include gardening, construction tasks, workshop improvements and creative build challenges. These experiences have helped them develop resilience, pride and a sense of ownership over their achievements.
Functional Skills sessions in Maths and English have supported learners towards qualifications at a pace that suits their needs, helping them feel confident as they progress. Across all secondary sites, the number of accreditations and personal milestones has been outstanding.
Summer of Fun, Learning and Opportunity
Progress did not pause for the holidays. Our Holiday Activities and Food programmes in Reading and Wokingham reached around 100 young people, offering climbing, creative workshops, volunteering, mentoring and healthy meals each day.
These sessions built friendships, confidence and valuable life skills. Activities such as bike restoration, gardening, gym sessions, team challenges and end of summer trips created memories and moments of growth that will last long into the new year.
One highlight was the Diversion and Disruption Project in Wokingham, funded by the local council. It supported young people to engage in positive activities such as fishing and go karting, helping them build confidence and avoid negative influences. Feedback from professionals has been incredibly positive.
Structure That Feels Human
Structure that feels human sits at the heart of everything we do and it has underpinned every success this year through the calm, consistent routines that help young people feel safe and ready to learn.
We offer up to 15 hours each week in three hour sessions, carefully broken into smaller ten to thirty minute chunks with movement breaks whenever needed, creating a rhythm that is predictable and purposeful while still flexible enough to meet each young person exactly where they are. At Storyy, structure is not a restriction; it is an act of care and the foundation that helps hope stick.
Alongside this, we keep the pen firmly in each young person’s hand by ensuring they are active participants in their own journey. They reflect on their progress, help set their goals and take part in their reviews, with staff walking beside them rather than directing from above. We never remove their agency or ownership, because their story is theirs to write.
As we move into a new year, this sense of control and confidence matters more than ever. January is not simply a restart; it is the beginning of the next chapter, and our learners are holding the pen with growing pride and belief in what comes next.
Looking Ahead to a New Year
Our commitment remains unchanged as we move into a new chapter. We continue to be calm, to be consistent, to be real, to be collaborative and to be purposeful in every interaction and decision. These values sit at the centre of everything we do, shaping the way we support young people and the way we show up for them each day.
Across Storyybrook, our secondary sites, Trades, mentoring, outreach and every learning space in between, progress has been woven into daily routines, conversations, challenges, breakthroughs and quiet moments of courage.
We have seen young people step into new skills, rebuild confidence, repair trust, reconnect with learning and rediscover pride in themselves. As we look toward the year ahead, we hold firm to the understanding that progress does not need to be loud to be meaningful.
Every young person deserves a next chapter filled with hope and direction. Here is to a new year where our young people do not simply show up but step forward with growing confidence, ownership and belief in how far they can go and here is to us walking beside them every step of the way.
