Three young people
She started reaching out herself
Where she was
In a five day week she might manage one or two days. When she did get in, her mother would often get a phone call within a couple of hours. Distressed, asking to be collected. Nothing could be planned around a day that might end at any moment. It was never really about attendance. She was anxious, unhappy, and did not feel there was anyone she could talk to.
What we did
We started with the relationship rather than the timetable. The same practitioner every time, for the young person and for her mother. On the hardest mornings that meant going to the house. Helping her get ready. Talking her through the anxiety. Staying until she could manage. Her mother knew she could pick up the phone. When something went wrong it was taken forward, and it came back with an answer. She also joined our parent sessions and heard from other families in the same position.
Where she is now
She began contacting us herself instead of going through her mother. For a young person who found adults hard to trust, that was the turn. She is starting college in September, and she has kept the relationship she built here.
Grade 6 in Maths, after months out of education
Where she was
A long term health condition meant she could not attend school in the usual way. A consultant advised that learning at home suited her better. Months went by with very little education in place.
What we did
We worked alongside the tutors already assigned to her, so that everyone was teaching the same thing. We added Maths, English and drama. We added mentoring and enrichment, because a young person who has been out of education for months needs something to look forward to as well as something to catch up on.
Where she is now
She sat her GCSEs. Grade 6 in Maths. Grade 5 in English Language and English Literature. She is moving on to the next stage of her education.
── HER MOTHER
── HER MOTHER
She had already failed it once
Where she was
A young person living with her kinship carer was going through a very difficult period at home. She had stopped engaging with the provision that was in place and had begun to feel invisible. She had sat her Functional Skills speaking assessment and not passed it.
What we did
We started with her kinship carer. We asked to be useful to the household before we asked anything of the young person. We worked alongside the professionals already involved rather than around them. Then we prepared her for the assessment again, properly, with someone who believed she could pass it.
Where she is now
She sat it a second time and scored full marks. She has enrolled at college and starts in September. Her kinship carer went with her to enrol. We are supporting her through the bursary paperwork and we will still be alongside her when she starts.