About SMS
Our school is built around strong relationships, clear expectations and ambitious next steps for young people who have often experienced barriers to education.
Message from the proprietor
Welcome to SMS Changing Lives School.
SMS was founded on a simple belief: that a young person’s previous experience of education should never define what they are capable of achieving in the future.
Many of the pupils who join us have experienced significant barriers to education. Some have struggled to engage within traditional school environments, while others require a more personalised, nurturing and therapeutic approach because of their social, emotional and mental health needs.
Our role is to understand the individual behind those experiences and create an environment in which they can begin to feel safe, valued, successful and ambitious again.
Since SMS began, our approach has continued to evolve, but our purpose has remained consistent: to educate, motivate and inspire young people , helping them develop the academic, personal, social and practical skills they need to move successfully into adulthood.
We recognise that progress looks different for every pupil. Academic qualifications are important, but so too are confidence, resilience, communication, relationships, independence, behaviour, emotional regulation and preparation for life beyond school.
For this reason, our provision brings together education, vocational learning, pastoral support, therapeutic approaches, mentoring, sport and enrichment. We aim to create opportunities for pupils to discover their strengths, develop new interests and experience genuine success.
As Proprietor, my responsibility is to ensure that SMS continues to develop as a safe, ambitious and sustainable school, with strong leadership, effective safeguarding, high expectations and a clear focus on improving outcomes for every pupil.
I remain incredibly proud of the young people who attend SMS and of the staff who work every day to support them.
Our ambition for the future is clear: to continue developing a specialist school that understands the needs of its pupils, works effectively with families and local authorities, and provides young people with the knowledge, skills, confidence and opportunities they need to build positive futures.
Jonathan Davies
Proprietor & Director
SMS Changing Lives School
Headteacher’s welcome
It is a privilege to lead SMS Changing Lives School. We are proud of the barriers our pupils overcome and we believe young people can flourish when they are understood, challenged appropriately and given genuine opportunities to succeed.
Our work gives equal importance to academic achievement, social and emotional development and preparation for adulthood. We want pupils to leave SMS with greater confidence, stronger skills and a realistic pathway into further education, training or employment.
Hecabe DuFraisse
Headteacher
Aims and ethos
- Provide a safe, nurturing and ambitious education for pupils with SEMH needs.
- Re-engage pupils with learning through trusted relationships, predictable routines and a broad curriculum.
- Teach the knowledge, skills and strategies pupils need to become increasingly independent.
- Promote mutual respect, inclusion, responsibility and preparation for life in modern Britain.
- Work in partnership with families, local authorities and other professionals to improve outcomes.
School type
SMS Changing Lives School is an other independent special school for mixed pupils aged 11–16. The school is non-boarding and has no religious ethos recorded on the Department for Education register.