ALTERNATIVE PROVISION
Growth Belonging Well-being
Our team at Strive
Rachel Hart
Head of Provision
​Rachel is a qualified teacher with over 25 years of experience in education as a teacher, Head of Department, and Assistant Headteacher. SEND and alternative provision are very close to her heart. With over 12 years of lived experiences, Rachel truly understands the challenges and rewards that having a child with SEND presents. Having first-hand experience of what alternative provision can do to transform young lives. Hence her passion and motivation to founder a provision that gives young people the opportunity to thrive, and to support families navigate through this stage of their journey.
Adam Morris
Provision Lead
Adam is the co-director and founder of Street 2 Pro Football Academy. He is a UEFA B Football coach with over 15 years of experience coaching children of all ages and abilities from grassroots to advanced development centres. Adam has taught PE and football in primary and secondary mainstream schools, SEN schools, and PRUs. Giving Adam a wealth of experience and a passion for supporting young people who find accessing traditional education a challenge.
Lady
Provision Dog
Name: Lady
Breed: Cocker Spaniel
Age: 4
Likes: Cuddles and lots of attention
Dislikes: Not being cuddled!
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Lady visits our provision every week, spending time with all our young people. Her calm, friendly manner and love of children make her a perfect addition to the Strive Family. She settled in straight away, and our students have loved having her around.
We look forward to integrating Lady into our programmes when she and our young people build a trusting relationship.
Reena Ghedia
Lead Tutor
Reena is a qualified Primary Teacher with 20 years of experience in mainstream and SEN schools. She has a passion for supporting young people with SEND, which started by working for MENCAP in her teens. Reena is also an experienced tutor, helping children who struggle to access the curriculum. With extensive experience supporting children with dyslexia, she is soon to become a Level 5 specialist dyslexia teacher. Reena is now passionate about helping children within an alternative provision to re-engage and thrive again.
Jenny Nagle
Instructor
Jenny has a wealth of experience working with young people of all ages and abilities in various educational settings. Her passion is working with young children with SEND who struggle to access more traditional education. Jenny is incredibly versatile regarding what she can deliver to our young people at Strive. She is an FA-qualified football coach and a coach for various other sports and physical exercise. She is very creative, imaginative, and adaptable and has a real strength in building trusted relationships with young people.
Stacey Hickey
Provision Manager
Stacey has over eleven years of experience as a qualified Early Years Practitioner and Nursery Manager. Given her experience in working alongside parents, schools, local authorities and other agencies. During this time, she gained a passion for supporting children with SEND. After a career break to raise her young family, Stacey is now excited to continue that passion at Strive IA as our Provision Manager where she will oversee all administration and day-to-day operations of the provision.
Liam Hickey
Provision Lead
Liam is the co-director and founder of Street 2 Pro Football Academy. He is an FA coach with over 10 years of experience coaching football for all ages and abilities, from grassroots to advanced development centres. Liam’s diverse background of serving in the military for 12 years, working and coaching for various football clubs and teaching in SEN schools has led to a desire to set up an alternative provision. Where he can put to good use his knowledge and passion in inspiring disengaged, young people with SEND.​
Jane Hunt
Send Support
Jane has a wealth of personal and professional experience supporting children and families with SEND. She has experience working with local authorities, schools, and external agencies to ensure children maintain access to education. Jane’s psychology background has been embedded in her work across various educational settings, including work as a qualified NVQ and functional skills assessor, Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) in secondary education and an EBSA (Emotional Based School Avoidance) Practitioner working with primary aged children under the supervision of a senior Educational Psychologist. Hence, she is passionate about working with young people within an alternative provision.
Ellese Blackman
Lead Instructor
Ellese has a passion for working with young people with SEN. She has worked as a sports coach in Primary and Secondary schools, delivering a wide range of sports and activities. Over the last four years, Ellese has worked in a PRU teaching various sports as well as hair and beauty. Working within a PRU has given Ellese the skills to be both adaptable and flexible when working with young people, as she understands that things don’t always go to plan! One of Ellese’s overriding strengths is her ability to form and build trusting relationships, something that we at Strive IA believe is integral to achieving positive re-engagement and success.
Jenny Cuggy
Tutor
Jenny is a qualified teacher with over 15 years of experience as a Head of English and Subject Coordinator in Science. Jenny has a wealth of experience across all age ranges and abilities at primary and secondary levels. Her recent focus on Maths, English, and Science as a tutor links perfectly with Strive's aims. Jenny is passionate about working with young people with SEND who have become disengaged with learning. She believes in developing self-confidence and self-esteem while making learning enjoyable. Jenny ensures she tailors all her sessions to each child’s individual needs, goals and interests to maximise engagement and progress.