Six out of the seven pupils referred are in year 6 transition to secondary school, with the other pupil transitioning back into a mainstream setting soon. All seven pupils have had previous Social Care Involvement. Six out of the seven pupils have several ACES. Two out of the seven referred were not attending school due to the effects of a long period of lockdown, both pupils are now attending fulltime and are very settled and engaged in class.
There were several similar outcomes required for all pupils including :
- Forming a positive relationship with an adult outside the home and school environment
- Take part in activities to build self-esteem and self-worth
- Build resilience through feeling safe enough to make a mistake and manage the emotional impact
From the conversations with mentors, and the monthly feedback sheets, we can see that the pupils formed good, healthy relationships with their mentors and experienced positive closure at the end of their programme.
Several of the children told us they were sad at the end of the programme and both staff and pupils were surprised how quickly time went by. Mentors and pupils talked about the ‘fun and laughter’ they experienced during sessions and for at least two of the pupils, their feelings of isolation from their community were decreased, allowing the pupils to experience a safe space away from home and school.
For many of our pupils, this is missing in their life experience. Our recording in school shows a decrease in emotional dysregulation among six out of the seven pupils, with the other pupil experiencing a move from the area and our school, carer’s planned marriage and unplanned school engagement.
We believe this had a major impact on his emotional regulation.