Airport House is an Intensive Support and Vocational Training Unit established in 2005 to complement other support services for young people of secondary school age residing in Caithness. Occasionally, to support early transition the high school, staff work with young people as they prepare to leave primary school.
The Manager at Airport House works closely with the high schools at both Wick and Thurso (and occasionally Farr). Our ethos is to promote learning and enable young people to plan for their future in a safe, supported environment. Staff work with young people in an emotionally literate manner, and they aim to help the young people better understand and manage their emotions and reactions, as well as their relationships with others.
Airport House can offer part-time support for up to 16 young people who have social, emotional and/or behavioural needs and are having difficulty engaging or coping in full-time mainstream education. Some pupils will attend Airport House, others are supported through outreach, or a combination of these may be used by Airport House staff. The manager works closely with education officers and school managers identifying young people who work with Airport House staff and their progress.
Through a social pedagogy the young people that work with the staff at Airport House are provided with positive learning experiences. The manager works closely with the schools monitoring the quality of these learning experiences and developing the curriculum to meet pupil needs. Each pupil has their own child’s plan, led by their secondary school or social work which identifies the role of Airport House in supporting the learning of each young person. They may also be attending a high school or North Highland College as part of their overall learning package and the services will work collaboratively to ensure best offering for the young person. A teacher provides teaching in literacy and numeracy and may support learning for other curriculum areas as appropriate. The children’s services workers in Airport House are responsible for delivering the emotional literacy programmes, and the Personal Achievement/Development programme as well as providing a range of social activities for the young people.
