Ellie O'Donoghue

ScapeSchool, Managing Partner

The course Leeds Trinity offered was perfect for me. It didn’t just tie me to a teaching qualification.

Why I chose Leeds Trinity

I always knew I wanted to work with children but was never 100% sure which path to take so the course Leeds Trinity offered was perfect for me. It didn’t just tie me to a teaching qualification. After I came and had a look around campus, I knew it was the place for me. I was so nervous about everything to do with starting University, but I felt at ease straight away. It was a beautiful place; all the staff were so lovely and welcoming and that was my decision made. 

My favourite student memories

I have had made so many amazing memories at Leeds Trinity, but my favourite would have to be my lectures with James Jackson - what an amazing lecturer he is! Obviously another one is graduating. I had many obstacles in my way to getting my degree but I was completely over the moon when I found out got my result and graduated.

Leeds Trinity has helped me in so many ways. It has given me the confidence to be able to stand in front of a room of people and speak confidently. Before university, I would never done that! It has also given me the reassurance that I am capable of doing anything if I put my mind to it.

Launching a business before graduating!

My business partner, Hollie Bruce, and I, started planning for ScapeSchool in January 2020. At this point I was in my final year at Leeds Trinity. We finally took the leap a few months later, in March, and began planning our dream! The timing, due to the coronavirus pandemic was not great for sure, but I was planning something I never thought I would achieve. My dream was slowly becoming a reality. 

ScapeSchool is a holiday club for primary school aged children (ages 4-11).  We offer holidays full of fun! We have spent a lot of time thinking about how we can stand out from any other holiday club. We have a different theme every day, some of our themes include; gardening day, musical theatre day, creative outdoors day and dinosaur day. Each day has different activities planned around the theme of the day, lots of arts and crafts and outdoor play. 

A dream start

ScapeSchool has been a massive success and we were both totally overwhelmed by the reaction we received from parents! Most days were fully booked and we never ever thought our first holiday club would be this successful. It was amazing achieving this at the age of 22.

Covid-19 - what a time to start a business!

Who would do it? Us clearly! Covid has worked both in our favour and against us. Covid limited the number of children we could take and meant lots more paperwork, planning and of course risk assessments. The pandemic didn’t stop us from launching ScapeSchool though. Children had missed out on months of socialising and being with friends in a fun environment - so they all needed it! This has meant that parents have been more desperate to get them back socialising and enjoying being a child again! It has been such a scary time for the children, so it was amazing to see them all feeling comfortable and enjoying some normality and having fun whilst making memories with old and new friends. 

Plans for the future

We will be offering our services not only for summer holidays but for every single school holiday. Our focus is on giving children the best fun throughout the holidays.

Maybe one day in the future, we can have our own nursery but that's a big dream for a long time away! 

Read about the launch of ScapeSchool