About Us
Our Mission
Our core aim is to provide alternative education support for children and young people who are not thriving in a mainstream school setting and finding it difficult to access education due to a wide range of emotional, social and learning needs.
We support students with Special Education Needs and Disabilities, such as ADHD or autistic spectrum conditions, those with poor mental health, experiences of abuse or trauma in their lives or other circumstances that limit their progress and aspirations.
We use the land, animals and the natural environment to benefit young people’s emotional wellbeing as well as their physical health. We help them to re-engage in mainstream education or transition to other specialist settings. Our trained staff and services are tailored to meet the needs of young people and help them to move forwards.
Outside of the school day, we use our site to run other community programs, such as floristry and craft workshops, group visits and activity sessions for families.
“At Bonterre we recognise that for some children, conventional classroom based learning is not a setting in which they can thrive, particularly for those with educational, behavioural and emotional challenges.
We understand that we learn better through doing and that learning can take place in diverse ways. We understand that basic needs must be met before effective learning can take place and that trust and respect are paramount for a healthy learning environment.
Our fundamental aim is to unlock potential, helping children to learn, discover and feel that they do have a future and a right to a purposeful place in society.”
Our Guiding Principles
Our History
Bonterre CIC (Community Interest Company) was set up in 2014 to benefit wellbeing in the community, primarily as an alternative educational resource. The organisation is based on a 8 acre small-holding on the Top Barn estate, just to the north of Worcester.
Bonterre was founded by Mike Stringer, who was a director at an international engineering firm when he decided to pursue his dream of becoming a farmer, using his horticultural skills to enhance the lives of young people struggling in the school system.
Having grown rapidly and supporting increasing numbers of students each year, Bonterre has now helped over 1000 young people across Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and the South Birmingham area.
Our Site
The small holding is located on a larger farm estate in the Worcestershire countryside. The site includes an orchard where we grow apples, pears and plums for fruit and juicing; and fields where we grow pumpkins, strawberries, raspberries and other soft fruit.
We also have extensive flower gardens, providing cut flowers to local florists and floral displays for weddings and other special occasions.
As well as the commercial crops, we have a kitchen garden which provides a greater variety of food for our lunches that we cook and eat with the children, such as potatoes, peas, cabbages and onions.
We also have a number of “Have a Go” beds for children to take charge of growing their own vegetables or flowers.
Research has shown that spending time with animals is an excellent way of developing patience and empathy so we have guinea pigs, rabbits, tortoises, sheep and pigs on site, as well as several dogs that the children love.
We also have a group of chickens and ducks that provide us with eggs all year round (and a noisy welcome in the mornings!)
Our Team
Bonterre is run by a team of highly trained permanent staff and volunteers, passionate about improving the lives of and opportunities for young people. We have experienced teachers and youth workers that work together to create a unique learning environment that enables children to manage their emotions and develop the key skills for success.
Our staff also bring a wealth of personal interests that they use to provide a varied range of activities in addition to farming, such as fishing, photography, birdwatching, craft, bushcraft, cookery, music and countryside skills.
Staff receive regular training in working with children with a range of complex needs, to ensure that we understand and correctly respond to the children in our care. Part of our approach involves meeting each week to discuss individual students, ensuring that our plans will challenge and support them in their emotional and social development.
Members of our team have also completed training with the Countryside Educational Visits Accreditation Scheme, covering the hosting of safe and impactful farm experiences and activities for therapeutic outcomes.
We think our staff are amazing and their calm, gentle approach is what makes Bonterre the fantastic service that it is.
