A Special Day at Twycross Zoo with Hugi Hub & Hugi Nest Last week, children and families from our Hugi Hub and Hugi Nest provisions came together for a very special trip to Twycross Zoo and what a day it was. With a 70-seater coach full of excitement, laughter and anticipation, our children set off alongside their families and staff for a day many of them may not otherwise get the opportunity to experience. For some children, busy school trips can feel overwhelming or inacces

Masking is when a child hides how they are really feeling in order to cope in an environment that feels overwhelming or unsafe. They may try to: Follow expectations, even when they don’t understand them Copy others to fit in Suppress emotions or reactions Stay quiet or appear compliant Push themselves to manage situations that feel too much On the outside, it can look like they are coping. On the inside, it can feel very different. Why Do Children Mask? Children do

As Founder and Director of Hugi, one of the most common things I hear from families is, “My child is anxious about school, but I don’t fully understand why.” For many children, anxiety around school is not always easy to recognise or explain. It doesn’t always look like worry or fear in the way we might expect. Sometimes, it looks like refusal. Sometimes, it looks like anger. Sometimes, it looks like shutting down completely. But underneath it all, there is often the same fee

As Founder and Director of Hugi, one of the most important parts of our work is supporting children to move forward. For many families and schools, reintegration can feel uncertain. There can be questions around timing, readiness, and what the process should look like. At Hugi, we see reintegration not as a single event, but as a journey. Starting with Readiness, Not Pressure Before a child can return to education, they need to feel ready, not just academically, but emotional

As Founder and Director of Hugi, I often meet families at a point where something doesn’t feel right. School may have started positively, but over time things have changed. What once felt manageable can begin to feel overwhelming, for both the child and their family. This doesn’t happen overnight. It is often a gradual shift. Noticing the Changes For many children, the early signs are subtle. It might begin with reluctance to attend school, increased worry, or difficulty sepa

As Founder and Director of Hugi, one of the most common questions I hear from families is, “What actually is alternative provision, and how do I know if it’s right for my child?” For many parents and carers, the journey to this point hasn’t been easy. It often comes after a period where school hasn’t felt right, where anxiety has increased, attendance has dropped, or where a child is no longer able to access learning in the way we would hope. Alternative provision exists to o

As Founder and Director of Hugi, my journey into alternative provision has always been rooted in one simple belief, every child deserves to feel safe, understood, and able to belong. After over 30 years working within schools and local authority SEND services, I saw first hand that for some children, mainstream education, despite everyone’s best efforts, just doesn’t work in the way it should. Not because the child can’t learn, but because the environment, expectations, or pa