Company Website: www.mulberrybush.org.uk
Contact: Angus Burnett
Position: Referrals & Partnerships Manager
Telephone: 01865 300202
Email: aburnett@mulberrybush.org.uk

Type of Provision: Residential Special School with a Children’s Home
Total number of children’s homes & other services: 1
Total number of registered beds: 31
Size range of homes: 1 children’s home with 4 term time houses and 1 holiday house. Each term-time house can have up to 8 children living there and 6 in the holiday house.
Age range on admission: 5 – 10 years
Specialist services: The Mulberry Bush provides specialist therapeutic, residential care and education for children who have experienced severe early year’s trauma
Names and Qualifications: Lee Wright – (Director and Responsible Individual) – BSc (Hons), PGCE; Claire McCarthy – (Head of Group Living and Registered Manager) – BSc (Hons) PG Dip in Psychodynamic Care, Level 6 Leadership and Management; Richard Hartwell – (Deputy Head of Group Living) – BA (Hons) NVQ4 Care of Children and Young People, NVQ4 Health and Social Care and Leadership & Management for Care; Mike Staines – (Deputy Head of Group Living) – BSc (Hons), Pg Dip Psychoanalytic Observational Studies, NVQ4 Health and Social Care and Leadership & Management for Care.
Registered school: The Mulberry Bush provides a non-maintained special school for all the children living in the houses. The school is on the same site as the children’s houses.
Other education provision: The Mulberry Bush provides education for all the children living at its houses. The children are taught by qualified teachers in 4 classes. The school follows a curriculum that is designed to meet the needs of all the children at the school whatever their stage of learning.
Therapeutic provision: The Mulberry Bush is a therapeutic community providing a highly integrated combination of therapeutic education, care and treatment for primary aged children. The main therapy at the school is the therapeutic milieu, but individual and group therapies are also available. These include; individual drama and music therapy, individual psychotherapy, group work, life story work, speech and language therapy, educational psychology, family work and therapy (including multi family therapy) and VIG work.
Other services: The Mulberry Bush provides an Outreach service and a centre for reflective practice called the Mulberry Bush Third Space (MB3). The Outreach Team provides training and consultation which links teaching, research and practice for Mulberry Bush staff, external organisations and schools. MB3 also houses the Planned Environment Therapy Archives and the National Childcare Library.

Located on one site in rural Oxfordshire, The Mulberry Bush is a therapeutic children’s home with a non-maintained special school. We work with vulnerable and severely traumatised primary aged children and their families from across England and Wales. Children are referred due to their severe social, emotional and mental health difficulties which have resulted in their inability to be cared for in the dynamics of a family environment or any local school provision. Most have suffered severe trauma in their first years of their life.

We provide 38 weeks of residential special school provision and a 52 week service that works closely with a wider network of professionals with the aim of enabling children to return to live in a family setting. We have a highly integrated therapeutic community approach that focuses on meeting the individual needs of children and their families. We provide highly evolved therapeutic group living arrangements with our on-site therapeutic education team delivering a specialised curriculum. Alongside this we provide therapeutic interventions and family support from our Therapies and Networks Team.

All of our staff who work alongside our children undertake a 2 year Foundation Degree Award in Therapeutic Work with Children and Young People. This is an award winning course and is accredited by the University of the West of England.