2011 Lifeskills Graduates
St Basils is OCN accredited to offer Lifeskills to young people engaging in St Basils services. The Lifeskills courses are similar to NVQs, young people have to do coursework as well as assessments to build up evidence that proves they have achieved a certain standard. Modules young people can choose include Cooking, money management and budgeting and healthy eating.
One young graduate said of the Lifeskills course; "I learnt skills to help me improve my confidence in looking after my child such as how to cook him healthy meals."
Pamela, Priory House.
Another young graduate said of the 2011 Awards ceremony; "I loved it! I thought they wouldn't think much of me as a young single mom, but the ceremony boosted my confidence and made me feel special"
Chloe, Priory House.
Learning, Skills and Work
The Learning, Skills and Work (LSW) service plays an important role in preventing repeat youth homelessness by increasing the necessary confidence and skills that young people need in order to engage with mainstream education, training and / or employment and ultimately become independent.
The key results for all young people are to have comprehensive, impartial information, advice and guidance that will assist them in entering appropriate education, training and / or employment.
These results are monitored and reviewed via young peoples’ individual action plans that include targets agreed by both the young person and the LSW worker.
Their achievements contribute to bigger outcomes of reducing the number of young people in Birmingham & Solihull not in any education, employment or training (NEET). Also, to aid young people to increase academic levels to level 2 – the Government’s national target.
The service delivers numerous projects and courses that enhances the development of young people. Around 300 young people are provided with an intensive service each year and 90% re-engage with some form of education, training or employment as a result of the interventions from the service.
The challenge and the evidence
For many young people, a bad experience at school or college is a key factor in them becoming homeless or being at risk of becoming homeless. Bad experiences can lead to poor academic results that in turn will dent the young person’s self-esteem and confidence. Ultimately, they do not have the skills to enter into further education or employment. Around 40% of young people that come to St Basils each year have no or very few recognised qualifications. There is also a high percentage of young people who have experienced school exclusion on either a permanent or temporary basis who later experience homelessness.
We believe that all young people should be given the opportunities to fulfil their aspirations and potential. The Learning Skills and Work service sets out to address the issues of low confidence, skills and self-esteem and to raise young people’s aspirations.
A major challenge we faced is engaging young people into an area that historically for them is one that has let them down, been fruitless and on occasions, stressful.
The Learning, Skills and Work Service sets out to address these issues by involving young people in every decision and opportunity available to them and devising an action plan that is personal to them. Feedback has shown that young people want to learn and develop themselves and in light of this, a variety of courses are delivered in-house where young people are comfortable and in a learning environment that suits them.
The challenge is to tap into young people’s interests and passions. The things they like doing – and using this as a base to develop their skills and aspirations. By showing young people they can achieve by doing something they enjoy, creates satisfaction and increases confidence to further pursue their goals.
