CEO MONTHLY | Female CEO of the Year Awards 2024 8 etermined to empower young people by providing them with the right education to ensure their future success, Elmtree Learning Partnership strives to build strong bases, shatter stereotypes, and stop history repeating itself. Across six locations across North Somerset, Bristol and Gloucestershire – Elmtree delivers clear and consistent support for pupils, all through a curriculum meticulously designed to make the transition back to mainstream education as seamless as possible. From improving knowledge of ICT to providing the opportunity to access music, books, and health/fitness classes, Elmtree focuses first of all on the developmental building blocks for every young person, before considering their individual needs so as to deliver an education that is right for them. The early intervention approach favoured by Elmtree revolves around making sure that every young person has a positive experience when it comes to their education, and this is something reflected right across its operation. Nowhere is this more clearly displayed than in Elmtree’s four core principles, which span creating a community for all, being individually inclusive, delivering support for everyone, and building strong foundations. On the back of these cornerstones, Elmtree helps pupils to be safe, happy, and also to recognise the importance of their uniqueness, all through provisions which effectively strike the balance between impact and cost, meaning that no affiliated school or local authority is forced to pay through the nose for this support. Initially expanding from being a single person business, by founding the aforementioned Elementa Support Services – a business which delivers comprehensive support to schools in the form of behaviour consultancy, recruitment, and training – in 2018, Sarah Morrison would go on to establish Elmtree as a way of furthering the impact she was having in this setting. These two businesses combined to form the Elementa Education Group four years later, before being joined by Elmtree Grove School Ltd when it opened late last year. Established on the back of one young learner’s heartbreaking story that they had been rejected by 16 schools in the region, Alternative Education CEO of the Year 2024 (South West England): Sarah Morrison An alternative education provision for children struggling to succeed in traditional learning environments, Elmtree Learning Partnership Ltd delivers a part-time provision supporting education and emotional literacy for 5–16-year-olds in several locations across the South West. Founded by awardwinning CEO Sarah Morrison in early 2022, Elmtree is proud to be a part of the Elementa Education Group, which comprises an independent SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) school, Elmtree Grove School Ltd, and Elementa Support Services and Behaviourself Ltd – a series of bespoke courses and workshops. Elmtree Grove School is perhaps the crowning achievement in Sarah’s career so far. Taking the project from idea to completion in just five months, this fully operational school is already at capacity, a testament to both the stellar work that Sarah is doing and her unwavering commitment to the next generation of learners in the South West of England, where she provides this environment for all to thrive. With Sarah at the helm and her impressive background in education, safeguarding, training, and recruitment to boot, Elmtree has continued to go from strength to strength in the approximately three years since first opening its doors. Much of this success can be attributed to the excellent staffing teams in place at these locations, teams which are ran by an equal number of men and women. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to inclusivity however, with Elmtree’s central leadership team being 60% female. The support delivered to women across Elmtree does not end there, as its collaboration with the Women’s Work Lab sees new mothers supported in the workplace. Having backed six of these programmes to date and recruited from each, one does not have to look far to see that Elmtree is a beacon of female empowerment. Moreover, regardless of gender, initiatives such as flexible term-time contracts, access to private healthcare, 60 hours of training per year, and weekly recognition programmes make Elmtree a great place to work. It is thanks to this sustained excellence that Elmtree Learning Partnership Ltd has a series of expansion plans in the pipeline, including opening another school and more alternative learning sites. As for Sarah herself, she plans to continue mentoring and supporting local organisations, giving back through the likes of Christmas appeals, summer projects, and mentoring young enterprise teams. All of this makes CEO Sarah Morrison a worthy winner of this award and more than deserving of a place in this programme. D Contact: Sarah Morrison Company: Elmtree Learning Partnership Ltd Web Address: elmtree-learning.org.uk
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