Council to give extra help to young people when they need it most
http://www.dailyfix.co.uk/articles/81092/1/Council-to-give-extra-help-to-young-people-when-they-need-it-most-/Page1.html
By Chief Editor
Published on 25 Feb 2010
Herefordshire Council has successfully bid for more than £2 million to invest in centres to support young people in their own schools and, where necessary, help them get back on track.
The grant is being used to fund centres within all 14 of the county’s maintained secondary schools.
Occasionally, a young person may need extra time, effort and emotional support during a crucial time in their life. Schools want to help their pupils through such times, particularly when changes in behaviour may interrupt learning. The new centres are designed to provide targeted support and help these relatively small numbers of young people get back on track so that they can continue their education.
Unique to each school, the centres will consist of learning spaces, meeting rooms and reception areas located in the heart of the school where possible. The overriding premise will be that providing support early on will meet young people’s needs within their own school in a targeted way. A mixture of refurbishment projects and extensions will help the cash spread across all 14 secondary schools.
The council began working with schools in June, to explore the type of help and support for students that schools have identified and the building or refurbishment work needed to make this happen. Herefordshire Council has appointed contractors to undertake this work over the next few months.
“We need to make sure all our young people get the best possible start in life and this includes providing support during times when it is most needed,” said Councillor Phillip Price, cabinet member for ICT, education and achievement.
He continued, “Once a young person starts missing out on learning, they can get so far behind that it becomes incredibly difficult for them to catch up and they can become demotivated. The new centres will provide support to help young people through difficult times so that they can re-enter mainstream education when they are emotionally and educationally ready to do so.”
So far centres have been completed at John Masefield High School and John Kyrle High School and the results are already proving successful.
Andy Evans, head teacher of John Masefield High School, said: “As a result of the programme more than 60 students have been supported and over 60 percent of the young people in the school with the most challenging behaviour have made marked improvements this year. Fixed term exclusions at John Masefield are very low for a medium size comprehensive and have fallen again this year.”
All 14 centres are scheduled to be completed by 2011.
The grant is being used to fund centres within all 14 of the county’s maintained secondary schools.
Occasionally, a young person may need extra time, effort and emotional support during a crucial time in their life. Schools want to help their pupils through such times, particularly when changes in behaviour may interrupt learning. The new centres are designed to provide targeted support and help these relatively small numbers of young people get back on track so that they can continue their education.
Unique to each school, the centres will consist of learning spaces, meeting rooms and reception areas located in the heart of the school where possible. The overriding premise will be that providing support early on will meet young people’s needs within their own school in a targeted way. A mixture of refurbishment projects and extensions will help the cash spread across all 14 secondary schools.
The council began working with schools in June, to explore the type of help and support for students that schools have identified and the building or refurbishment work needed to make this happen. Herefordshire Council has appointed contractors to undertake this work over the next few months.
“We need to make sure all our young people get the best possible start in life and this includes providing support during times when it is most needed,” said Councillor Phillip Price, cabinet member for ICT, education and achievement.
He continued, “Once a young person starts missing out on learning, they can get so far behind that it becomes incredibly difficult for them to catch up and they can become demotivated. The new centres will provide support to help young people through difficult times so that they can re-enter mainstream education when they are emotionally and educationally ready to do so.”
So far centres have been completed at John Masefield High School and John Kyrle High School and the results are already proving successful.
Andy Evans, head teacher of John Masefield High School, said: “As a result of the programme more than 60 students have been supported and over 60 percent of the young people in the school with the most challenging behaviour have made marked improvements this year. Fixed term exclusions at John Masefield are very low for a medium size comprehensive and have fallen again this year.”
All 14 centres are scheduled to be completed by 2011.