include Case Studies > Engaging Young People
Case Study One
S joined in September 2005, Year 10. She was unable to
start year 11 due to being heavily pregnant in November 2006.
However, an individual timetable was drawn up and S worked
conscientiously and achieved the higher grade in all subjects
including gaining awards in Literacy, Numeracy and ICT at level
1. She also managed to attend work experience one day a week
during her pregnancy. S has now moved out of Newport and is
living with her boyfriend. She plans to go to college.
Case Study Two
R was referred by the LEA to the High Wycombe
include Project and started on an induction
programme at the beginning of his year 10. It very quickly
became apparent that R was going to be a particularly challenging
student. This was evidenced by his aggressive attitude
towards staff and other students and his blinkered determination to
control his environment which was encouraged by the inconsistency
of his home life. include worked closely with R’s
mother to support her in helping him access his education in order
to reach his potential.
R was then given a mixed timetable of
one-to-one support and group experiences which incorporated the
full curriculum of numeracy, literacy, ICT, PSHE and sport. R
has also always had regular, weekly sessions at SKIDZ (a local
motor project). During this time R was taken into care in
Chesham. include continued to provide a
similar timetable with some sessions taking place in community
venues in Chesham. include worked closely
with the care home and the Education of Children in Public Care
(ECPC) team. Unfortunately, R was not able to sustain a level of
behaviour suitable for much group work and his timetable became
based around more individual tuition.
R moved to Aylesbury during the summer before
his year 11 and has been on a highly personalised timetable
throughout this year. With one-to-one sessions with a project
worker or tutor, one sports session, three hours with ECPC and one
session at SKIDZ, he is now in receipt of 19 hours intervention
each week, although the project continues to work towards his being
able to access the full 25 hours. The LEA offers further
financial support for R’s situation.
R will have completed Maths and Science GCSEs
by the time he leaves the Bridge project at the end of June and
will be entered for a Literacy Level 2 City & Guilds
exam. It is hoped that R will be able to access a college
placement in September following a successful supported
interview.
Case Study Three
C was referred to include by the local
authority. He had been permanently excluded from a local
school during year 9. Milton Keynes Council fund a place on the
Aylesbury Bridge Project (within Buckinghamshire County Council
area) for C, which runs alongside the 10 places funded by the local
LEA. C is transported by taxi from Milton Keynes to
Aylesbury.
C feels that he needs a lot of attention
and this is often reflected in his behaviour. At times he has
had social services intervention and has had a high level of
involvement from YOT and the Police. include
have worked continuously with C’s parents and this, at times, has
been challenging.
From the beginning of his placement, C has
been timetabled, and has accessed, the full 25 hours
provision. His timetable includes Numeracy, literacy, ICT,
PSHE and sport. He has always had sessions at SKIDZ in his
timetable and currently has a full day each week on this
project.
Since September 2006, C has also
attended Milton Keynes College on the pre-16 sports-based access
course which he has enjoyed and is now enrolled onto a sports
course after he leaves include, which starts in
September 2007.Therefore C is currently well prepared in his
expectations for a mainstream provision and should achieve level 1
in both literacy and Numeracy in his City & Guilds exams this
summer.
Case Study Four
M is currently in year 9 and was referred to
include, in February 2007, on a temporary
contract. His parents had withdrawn him from a ESBD unit at a
local school and were in dispute with the council over his future
placement. M has a hearing disability and refuses to wear his
hearing aids. He also has reports from the Dyslexia Institute
categorising his dyslexia as severe. We assessed M at entry
level ability.
include works with M in a
remote venue with a tutor and a support worker at each
session. He does not meet students from other projects.
Initially it was hard to engage M in any activity at all apart from
going for long walks. He would often display very challenging
behaviour. However, we then honed in on his interest in the
environment, fishing, survival skills and design technology.
M settled well into projects that involved these things e.g. making
a wooden box, open-air cookery and growing a herb garden
indoors. He was able to record and write about these
projects. M also has ICT sessions which have been less successful
as M is still not keen on sitting still for longer periods.
include has worked
closely with M’ parents to deliver education for M and he is now
starting to understand the importance of recording his projects and
is working harder at this embedded numeracy and literacy. He
is calmer and comes with an expectation of filling his time with
meaningful activity. His self-confidence has considerably
improved.
Case Study Five
D had faced huge challenges throughout his life and had no
support from any family network. He was subject of child protection
procedures from a very early age as he was neglected. D was also
involved in a lot of offending and anti-social activities prior to
attending the Project. He had to attend court frequently, sometimes
twice a week throughout his time with include
(hence his high authorised absence figures) and was in regular
contact with the Police/YOT as well as being the subject of an
ASBO.
He was also at risk of a custodial sentence
for a previous serious offence. Without the positive court report
provided by the Project Manager, which supported his receipt of a
community based sentence, he would have gone to custody in Year 11.
His excellent attendance record (78% actual and 19% authorised),
the support of include staff, plus his real
commitment to change meant that was able to achieve a wide range of
accreditation in Year 11: WJEC Entry Level Maths, English, Life
Skills, P.E., Double Award Science and CLAIT. On leaving
include he has continued to attend college and is
doing very well.
Case Study Six
M was initially very reluctant to return to education with
include, as he was very withdrawn and had a
statement of educational need as he had been identified as being on
the autistic spectrum. With hard work and considerable effort
from M and the Bridge Course team he has matured to a young man
with greatly improved social skill and the confidence to
communicate with his peers and adults. He has achieved
several OCN’s and two WJEC Certificates in Maths and English and
recently secured a place at the local college on their office
technology course.
Case Study Seven
When M first met her Flex Project Worker, she was very shy and
retiring and had difficulty finding the motivation to leave the
house. The main focus for the intervention was to improve M's self
confidence and motivation. By tapping in to M's interest in
physical activity, Flex purchased some home training equipment and
helped her put together a simple exercise programme. Together with
her Project Worker, M gradually began to leave the house and become
engaged in social activities such as playing pool, doing art work
and visiting local tourist attractions. M developed her confidence
and social skills to such a level where she joined a local pool
league team, and then started looking at her employment options. At
her last meeting with her Project Worker, M had been offered 2 jobs
and was considering which to take.
Length of intervention = 13.3
weeks
Case Study Two
H’s main goal was to find employment and he was referred to Flex
by Connexions for support with his job searching skills as well as
looking at possible work placements in painting and decorating. ILP
targets were drawn up that incorporated working on application
forms, interview skills, exploring her artistic techniques and work
experience. H’s accommodation was a temporary stumbling block
during her time on Flex, but she was soon settled in a local hostel
and was able to attend work experience at the Vine Project working
on her painting and decorating skills. H has been offered a place
at College for September, which he intends to take up.
Length of intervention = 8.6 weeks
Case Study Eight
S was referred to flex after he had
been met struggling at college and eventually left his course.
S was living with his grandmother. He
was social isolated and spent a lot of his time writing classical
music on his computer. Inputting each note one at a time, as if
writing it on a manuscript. He had been doing music at college and
his tutor thought him to be talented but social pressures had
stopped him from continuing. S found social situations
difficult.
An Individual Learning Plan was drawn
up with S that would help him to be less isolated and enable him to
meet other young people with similar interests.
S and the Flex Project Worker went on
a series of visits to music projects. These visits meant that S got
to meet people who offered support and were genuinely interested in
his ability. All offered him time and resources if he wanted to
write music or learn recording and mixing.
During each visit we discussed why we
were doing it and what he hoped to get from the visit. We also
collected and filled in lots of application forms for jobs in his
local area.
Whilst on Flex S was given a
structured time based around his interests but also concentrating
on the areas of his self esteem and self worth. We had goals to
achieve together with an emphasis on him making decisions and being
able to say no to things he did not want to do. By meeting people
in controlled and ‘safe’ visits it helped him find the confidence
to get involved again in training.