Netherlea School

Netherlea School, located in the historic town of Dumfries is in a large, homely building, with up to seven classrooms, additional learning areas and relaxation spaces. There is a garden, resourced for various activities and sports, and a polytunnel.

Currently, Netherlea has nine young people on roll, aged between 10 and 15. There are vacancies available for young people aged 8 to 17, with each class accommodating between two and four young people.

Our staff are skilled in meeting the needs of young people with complex additional support needs, including those arising from trauma, neurodivergence; and social, emotional and mental health needs. We invite placement enquiries and referrals from local authorities.

Our ethos is trauma-responsive, compassionate, nurturing and child-centred; and we are a Rights Respecting School and our staff are trained and experienced in working with young people who have experienced adversity in their childhood, including in previous educational placements.

All of our staff are trained in Crisis and Aggression Limitation Management (CALM).

Our school days run from 9.20am until 3.30pm, Mondays to Thursdays; and 9.20am until 1.15pm on Fridays. Class sizes are between 2 and 4 young people.

We learn across the main curricular areas: English and Literacy, Maths and Numeracy, Sciences, Technologies, Personal and Social Education, Physical Education, Religious and Moral Education, Expressive Arts, and Social Studies.

We offer our young people a Broad General Education and many opportunities to attain qualifications, including Qualifications Scotland units and courses from National 2 to Higher level.

At Netherlea we understand that many of the young people who come to the school have had a turbulent and often disrupted past education experience. Most have been to a number of schools, have been subject to exclusion, and struggle to maintain their learning in more mainstream settings; often subject to low self-esteem, low confidence in learning and a high level of disengagement from the education system.

We are committed to providing a nurturing, safe and vibrant learning environment that fosters a love of learning and enables every student to become the best they can be. Respectful and supportive relationships are at the heart of all that we do: we value every member of the school community equally. We recognise that our pupils bring different experiences, interests and strengths, and we understand these will influence the way they learn.

We take a child-centred approach to education that recognises and responds to individual need. We celebrate effort and achievements and set high expectations. We are here to help our students learn the skills they need to become successful, motivated and resilient young adults who are fully equipped to make a positive contribution to society.