Within 3 days of arriving at Rossie, you will be given a tour of Education – the school, the classrooms, meeting the teachers and meeting other young people. This stage is a great opportunity to get to know your surroundings before attending the school.

Usually lasting around 3 weeks, this is a time for us to get to know you, your learning style and your interests. It may be scary coming into a new school. We want you to feel as comfortable as possible while you get to know us and your new surroundings, so we will support and guide you through this. We work with you on your maths, reading and writing, and if you have not been to school for a period of time, the Induction will help you settle back into the routine of attending school. It is a great way to start to enjoy learning!

Based on your age group and stage of learning, you will join a class and have the opportunity to work towards gaining National Qualifications. We give you a lot of individual attention and so our classes are small with no more than 3 other young people in our secure school. There are at most 5 other young people in our residential school. This means you have the best chance of learning and gaining qualifications.

You have opportunity to gain qualifications in:

• English
• Maths
• History
• Physical Education
• Craft Design and Technology
• Home Economics/Hospitality
• Dance
• Personal and Social Education
• Modern Studies
• Business Administration
• Information and Communication Technology.

We are continually adding different subjects to the curriculum to give you more of a choice.

We do not rush. We teach at your pace and we like to keep things consistent. This gives you more chance to learn and to put into practice what you have been taught. In the class, you will see your teacher who will teach you their subject and support you through your learning. There are also classrooms assistants who can help you with your work. Our teaching staff love their jobs! They are fun to work with, are creative, helpful and encouraging.

If you miss class, we will do all we can to help you catch up.

A lot of our young people enjoy our Outdoor Learning opportunities. We take advantage of the 150 acres of woodland surrounding Rossie. We have a variety of award-winning projects taking place, which you can get involved in. It is lots of fun, and it helps build your confidence, improve how you feel about yourself as well as linking in with your coursework.

We have additional support classes out of class time to provide you with further help with your learning.

We want to give you as many opportunities to prepare for your future as we can. We look at possible career opportunities you might be interested in; as well as how we can help you increase your skills for work. Our Throughcare service will work with your teachers to help you make links back into your own local community. This may be through Skills for Work Programmes and Work Placements – both here at Rossie and in the community.

You can join our Rossie Book Club, take part in Dance classes, complete your John Muir Award, and go on day trips. Trips can include anything from hiking to skiing and Arbroath Ski Club at RM Condor.

We also have links with Who Cares? Scotland – this is a children and young people’s advocacy service which provides independent and personal support to all our young people who are living with us. They hold ‘participation groups’ every month which all of our young people can attend. This group helps you remember that you have a voice, and what you think and say matters. Recently, our young people took part in the 1000 Voices Campaign to help make children and young people’s care experience better.

We expect you to participate in an activity in the morning before school to help you prepare for the day ahead, The activities are part of our Breakfast Club and can include walking, having a dance session, or a trampoline session. The reason for these sessions is to wake you up and energise you, to help you have a more positive frame of mind which helps everyone’s mood and learning.

We celebrate all of your achievements, big and small. Each achievement is progress, and we think that this should be celebrated. Our goal is to support, encourage, care for and build a relationship with you; so let us celebrate together!