Last week was our Young Person's Week 2020, a week we celebrate annually where we reflect on and acknowledge our young people's achievements across the organisation. Staff received an email each day highlighting the successes of young people within our different ventures and services. Check out some of the highlights below:
Achievements by West Sussex training young people:
YP G has been engaging in support for high anxiety and in class this week, managed to stand up and give a presentation about her future career plans.
K and D have both sent off applications for work experience in health care professions this week.
Student A in Bognor Regis has had 100% attendance this term so far.
L has started his own company online via facebook and is selling planters that he makes from scratch!
A is always polite and helpful around the centre, clearing up even before he has asked.
K has made new friends really quickly since starting in January and has overcome major barriers to do this.
A is very environmentally conscious and takes time out of his day, unasked, to make sure recycling is done properly.
T for improved engagement and effort in Art.
T for excellent boxing skills and trying something new.
Young people reflected on what they are proud of themselves and filled our noticeboard
Success stories from Uxbridge training:
"It's only after you've stepped outside your comfort zone that you begin to change, grow and transform."
YP L was very shy and uncomfortable in the beginning of term especially being the only girl in the whole group. She has zero English skills and was struggling in contributing to class and even forming a positive relationship with other classmates. She had past negative experiences making it difficult for her to engage in groups. With constant support and motivation she has started gaining confidence and even managed to do a 5 min presentation in front of the whole class.
YP D was struggling with maths because he was not understanding the language of instruction. There is a vast improvement in his performance and he has started doing independent work with less 1:1 support from the tutor.
YP Z wanted to pick up more on his IT skills so I tried doing embedded Maths and IT lessons which really helped him gaining confidence. He created a powerpoint on Area and volumes and presented it to the whole class.
A post from our social media about one of the young people in one of our fostering placements.
Achievements by our young people in our care services:
YP D was very anxious about attending an interview. Staff worked with him to build his confidence in answering questions and researching the company. On the day of the interview D had a moment where his anxiety got the better of him but staff calmed him down and reassured him and he attended. Three days later he was offered a full-time contract starting in March.
G had difficulties in school due to a previous relationship experience and harm to herself. During her most recent 1-1 session, she noted that she feels more positive within herself and glad that she has overcome self - harming.
H always opens doors for me and lets me enter first.
A taught me how to write my name in Tigrinya.
Yp in one of our houses have been taking it in turns to cook each other dinner.
We’ve had several yp move from the reception service into semi-independent accommodation recently, which is a positive step for them.
G has had some difficulties at school managing friendships and learning social skills. Recently, there has been a significant improvement in G’s ability to manage their emotions and be less reactionary.
Achievements by our young people in our action charity project:
M and I worked together for a few months following a referral from the youth offending team. The work that M and I completed together was centred around risk management and personal safety. M realised that the behaviours he was displaying previously would not do anything for him other than get him into further trouble. This realisation influenced him to make change, his attendance at school has rocketed to 100%, he is attending boxing training and everyone has noticed a huge improvement in his behaviour and wellbeing.
A has struggled with relationships all of her life, including family relationships. We worked closely together for 6 months, she opened up and we were able to talk about and explore certain things that she had been through. After our work came to an end A went on to work further with a counsellor who will be able to support her further in her journey.
B and I have worked together for a long time now, B is an adult male with a learning difficulty and found boundaries and consent hard to understand. He is now in an age appropriate relationship, he understands about what makes a relationship healthy or unhealthy and is actively seeking employment and a new property.
At asphaleia we believe in the potential of all young people. If you're not in education or employment at the moment or know someone who is, check out our training programmes that could help you get qualifications and work experience and support you into a job. It could be your achievements we're celebrating this time next year!
Well done to all our young people! Keep up the good work.