Meet our Head Teacher

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to Fortitude School.

Fortitude is a small, specialist independent SEND school based in Alcester, Warwickshire. We provide a nurturing, inclusive and highly personalised education for children aged 5–11 with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).

Our children have a wide range of individual strengths and needs, including Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), ADHD, communication and interaction difficulties and other associated needs. Many of our children have experienced significant challenges within education before joining us and require a different approach to help them feel safe, develop trusting relationships and rediscover a love of learning.

At Fortitude, we recognise that every child is different, and therefore their journey with us will be different too.

Our small classes, high levels of adult support and nurturing environment enable us to provide an individualised approach to learning. We understand that successful education is about much more than what happens at a desk, which is why our curriculum combines academic learning with practical, creative, therapeutic and outdoor experiences.

Our children have opportunities to learn within school and through our farm and Forest School provision, where hands-on, experiential and lower-demand approaches can provide alternative ways for children to engage, regulate, develop confidence and experience success.

We are a trauma-informed school and understand that behaviour is often a form of communication. Our staff work hard to understand the individual child, what may sit behind their behaviour and what support they need to successfully access education. Relationships, consistency, predictability and emotional safety are central to our approach.

Together, We Grow, Achieve and Succeed

Our three core values are at the heart of everything we do:

Courage • Compassion • Commitment

Through these values, we want every child at Fortitude to feel:

Safe. Seen. Supported. Successful.

We celebrate progress in all its forms. For one child, success might be completing a piece of independent writing or making progress in maths. For another, it might be entering the classroom, communicating how they are feeling, managing a difficult transition, developing a friendship or engaging positively in learning after a long period away from education.

These achievements matter, and we celebrate every step forward.

Alongside academic progress, we place a strong emphasis on children’s social and emotional development, communication, independence, resilience and preparation for the next stage of their education. Our aim is for every child to develop the skills, confidence and self-belief they need to achieve their individual potential.

None of this can be achieved by school alone.

We value the relationships we build with parents, carers, families and the professionals supporting our children. We recognise that families know their children best, and we believe that open communication, honesty and genuine partnership are essential in helping children succeed.

Our passionate and dedicated staff team is committed to providing an environment in which children are understood as individuals, their strengths are recognised and their needs are appropriately supported.

For the Fortitude team, working here is much more than a job. There is an enormous sense of privilege in supporting a child who may previously have struggled with education to begin trusting adults again, engaging with learning, recognising their own strengths and believing that they can succeed.

I am incredibly proud to be the Headteacher of Fortitude School and proud of our children, families and staff team.

On behalf of our Directors, Governors and the whole Fortitude team, I would like to warmly welcome you to our school.

We look forward to working alongside you and sharing your child’s journey with you.

Welcome to Fortitude School – where together, we grow, achieve and succeed.

Mrs Jodie McCracken
Headteacher