SEASTONE

The Quay School is proud to provide education to Seastone which is an eight-bed inpatient High Intensity Environment/PICU at Alumhurst Road, Bournemouth, it’s a brand-new state of the art building, designed with input from young people and their families who directly benefit from the facilities.
This will be for children and young people in mental health crisis, providing:
  • improved emergency support and standards of care for children and young people
  • younger patients with the specialist care they need
  • the latest facilities will improve recovery times
  • treatment closer to friends and family, with space for families to stay if needed
  • fewer distressing out-of-area placements, which separates children and young people from their loved ones, hampering their chances of recovery.
The facility is known as a psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU), and it will be accessed through the child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).
A CAMHS PICU is an in-patient intensive care unit for young people in severe mental health crisis, with needs so significant that they need 24-hour, secure care. In it, we will be treating young people who require inpatient treatment with needs are so complex they can’t safely be managed on a general adolescent unit such as one at the adjacent Pebble Lodge.
They may be young people at high risk of suicide and self-harm or who have a mental illness which is making them more difficult to manage on an open ward due to their behaviour towards others. Some would be detained under the Mental Health Act for their own protection and that of others, and to enable them to get the right care so they can recover from mental health crisis.
  • New 1,500m2 modern ward
  • eight inpatient ensuite bedrooms including one fully accessible bedroom
  • a de-escalation room and seclusion suite
  • an extra-care suite
  • a two-classroom school facility
  • a tribunal room
  • games room, gym, occupational therapy kitchen, central courtyard, activities therapy room and a sensory room
  • space for family visits
  • nasogastric feeding facilities

Curriculum

Download: Curriculum-Model-Seastone-1

AIM TO ENGAGE

 

“Aim to Engage” is an approach designed to support students who find it difficult to connect with school by offering a range of carefully planned varied activities that foster interest, safety, and a sense of belonging. Rather than focusing immediately on academic outcomes, the emphasis is on building trust through positive, consistent relationships and creating meaningful experiences that help the student feel understood and valued. Over time, these experiences are designed to develop resilience, confidence, and a willingness to take part in learning. As engagement grows, students are better able to access the curriculum and begin to achieve academically, with progress rooted in the strong foundations of trust, emotional security, and a gradual re-engagement with learning. 

 

Whilst “Aim to Engage” may appear on a timetable at the beginning of each session, it is intentionally not bound by a strict timeframe. Instead, it is a flexible, responsive approach that adapts to the student’s needs in the moment. One strategy staff may use is to actively take part in the activity themselves, removing the pressure on the student to immediately engage. By doing so, the activity becomes something that is simply happening within the space, rather than something the student is expected or required to join. This creates an open, low-pressure invitation, where the student can choose to engage when they feel ready, without being the central focus or feeling that the success of the activity depends on their participation. This helps reduce anxiety, preserve dignity, and gradually builds comfort and willingness to join in over time. 

 

Some examples of these activities include: 

Jigsaws 

Board games 

Bean bag toss 

Colouring 

Lego 

Uno 

Puzzles 

Card games 

Gardening 

Big Art