Thrive @ The Mix

Thrive @ The Mix is an Alternative Provision for secondary aged students based at The Mix in Stowmarket. We believe that young people need to believe in themselves to thrive in life and learning, and that is our starting point. We want to provide them with the opportunity to get to know who they really are and build on their uniqueness from there. We know that once they start to develop that confidence, they will thrive in becoming the best version of themselves. We focus on leading young people to develop positive thinking, to build resilience, grow perseverance, develop character and pursue excellence.

We are able to offer a different learning environment from mainstream for those who need it. We have bespoke learning spaces within The Mix, as well as all the facilities on hand that The Mix and local community and businesses have to offer. We start each day with a focus on growth mindset, self-awareness and self-leadership, including team-based activities and 1:1 mentoring and coaching. On Tuesdays we focus on developing employability and leadership skills through business enterprise and youth social action, as well as supported work placements. Our Wednesday and Thursday programme consist of project-based learning tailored to individual student’s interests and needs and can include: commercial design and branding, engineering and carpentry, art, photography and videography, forest and nature based learning, sport including MMA and healthy lifestyle and much more. Fridays is more academic based, with small group maths and English tuition at KS3 and GCSE. We also work in partnership with the Together Project at The Mix to offer small group and 1:1 Careers, Information, Advice and Guidance to support students to raise their aspirations and explore and take their next steps. 

Students are referred to us by local secondary schools and the LA - schools block book placements with us at the start of an academic year to ensure access to spaces. We have been Quality Assured by Suffolk County Council and have taken part in schools' OFSTED inspections. All our staff are fully trained and DBS checked. Our team consists of qualified teachers with SENCo, PRU and current GCSE experience, experienced youth workers, local professionals and amazing volunteers.

We also run an Early Intervention programme in primary schools called Empower, providing weekly 1:1 mentoring around resilience, social skills, emotional management and transition support for Year 5 and 6 pupils. Please look at our website for further details.

It is now 6 academic years since we launched Thrive @ The Mix and we have seen such an impact on the lives of young people: empowering students to re-engage in school and learning often for the first time in years; growing mindsets to support Yr11 students to complete school and engage in their exams; providing vocational and business experience through local community links; bringing fresh hope to families; building resilience and aspirations for successful Post-16 transition.

Our aim is to make ourselves redundant as young people are empowered to thrive – get in touch if you know a young person who would benefit from our support!