Our learners

We aim to provide young people with programs and strategies that help them make make step changes in order that they can:

  1. help them find or regain their confidence
  2. support them with participation in life and finally
  3. support them with their return to learning, training or employment

Young people who come to work with 360 will have a range of complex needs that have interrupted their development, prevented them reaching their potential and quite often disengaged them from their families and life experiences.

In our view they have missed much of the critical child and young adult developmental stages. We believe that it very difficult to be ready for school, college or employment if you have not had the opportunity for the appropriate range of social, emotional and developmental experiences and learning to become a part of your being. 

Strategies

We therefore employ strategies that aim to heal, re-live, over learn and embed the long term benefits to adult life that childhood brings.

These are not stand alone programs but are interconnected and mutually beneficial approaches.

Some of these are detailed below:

Real Experiences

At the heart of everything we do is a focus on all experiences being real.

By real we mean activities, programs or situations that provide young people with the opportunity to experience first hand the environment or learning opportunity that best meets their needs

Young people who work with 360 will atypically not respond well to abstract learning or instruction.

It is understood that Cognitive learning takes place through shared experiences and relationships that develop curiosity, and hence motivation, rather than authority. The realness of the situation provides the learner with the tangible achievement that provides the motivation and engagement. Also in our experience, because the working relationships are not abstract either, the young people understand and respect the expected behaviours, social skills and boundaries.image 7

Some examples of what represents a usefully engaging experience have included:

  • Boxing - to help young people with anger and violence difficulties learn how to manage outbursts
  • Cooking - To produce a meal, from fresh ingredients, within a budget, using knives and hot equipment creates a nurturing outcome that also communicates trust in appropriate behaviours and the ability to follow instruction
  • Work in a pet shop - This experience has enabled a young to apply his maths skills very effectively to a practical situation and as a result develop his behaviour, social and employability skills
  • Supporting Foundation Stage children with learning support in school - to manage and take responsibility for the guidance of young children provides opportunities for reinforcement and modelling of positive behaviours, social interactions and engagement with learning
  • Construction work experience and employment

Play and Nurture

Due to the complex nature of the behaviour, social, emotional and communication difficulties that young people live with they are likely to have missed some of their critical developmental milestones. This creates a double negative or catch 22 effect on those pre-existing difficulties and further compounds the challenges.

The young people that we work with have probably not been invited to play dates, to birthday parties and have most probably been in conflict with their peers in school and consistently excluded. On top of the negative impact of learning difficulties, these lifelong rejections have had a catastrophic impact on their self esteem and their ability therefore to function effectively in complex learning and social environments.

We focus closely on play and nurture activities that provide the young person with the opportunity to re-visit critical childhood development experiences and embed age appropriate choices, actions and attitudes.

It is accepted that play is critical to the development of young children but we carry out this philosophy throughout the age ranges of young people that we work with - we work very hard to help the little boy or girl in the outwardly tough 16 year old, emerge.

Some of the ways we might do this are:

  • Creative problem solving in the outdoors
  • Den building
  • Bushcraft
  • Musing in the wilderness and large open areas
  • Sand play
  • Messy play
  • Physical, gross motor skills activities and games
  • Imaginative and role play
  • Non directive art and other activities

Interpersonal Qualities

However during the course of the day we are acutely aware of the significant role that 360 staff offer to young people in modelling positive, confident interactions and behaviours. On a day to day basis staff are required therefore to use a range of reflective and positive interpersonal qualities to help young people both observe and participate in transformative experiences.

These might include:

  • modelling and role play of being a ‘successful student’ in class - to encourage participation
  • bold, non self-conscious interactions in the community - modelling of verbal communication techniques with positive outcomes e.g. being cheeky and asking for a free cup of tea in a cafe
  • demonstrating an approach to an authority figure i.e. police officer, headteacher - empowerment through negotiation skills
  • acting silly or playing unreservedly in public with no sense of shame - to build self confidence through an understanding that exuberant, expressive and joyous childhood behaviours, within a context, are acceptable, normal and can bring happiness to others.
  • Not too big to apologise - staff are prepared to say sorry and take responsibility for choices or decisions that may have had a negative impact. Young people feel taken account of but observe that humility can be a strength.
  • Politely, but firmly follow up on a complaint or issue that needs addressing - to take own needs seriously, be appropriately assertive and discover that positive outcomes are possible
  • day to day playful and explorative attitude to situations that provide social and emotional learning - to dance if there's music, to cheer at a goal, to cry if something's sad
  • Modelling mistakes and failure - creating a safe place to make mistakes
  • Listening (and talking) - informed by our reflective practice and supervision, to create the space for young people to simply feel heard and successfully arrive at their own conclusions and choices.

Acceptable Risk

Young people who work with 360 will often have had one or more education placement breakdown. Their previous behaviours are likely to mean that they will have missed out on opportunities i.e. going on trips, being in the team, earning rewards because they have presented too high a challenge or risk.

It is our intention, within fully assessed and  managed situations, to turn this experience on its head and transform the young person’s self view and ability to be trusted.

Rather than avoid risks, hazards and failure we employ them as a key strategy to demonstrate growth and learning.

In order that we can make the bridge for young people to transfer or be re-included successfully we attempt to support them with developing the following qualities:

  • Independence
  • ability to make positive choices
  • inquisitive learning
  • ability to learn from mistakes
  • resilience
  • Thoughtfulness, reflection
  • listening

We believe that activities and experiences with acceptable, intentional risk provide a safe place for these qualities to develop.

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Some of the ways in which we introduce these:

  • Using sharp knives and hot utensils in cooking
  • building and lighting fires
  • Outdoor cooking
  • Outdoor play - including tree climbing, woodland adventures
  • Team building activities
  • Skateboarding
  • Boxing and Martial Arts
  • Work Experience
  • Community interaction

Reflective Practice

On a daily basis we review and record progress that young people are making.

We aim to provide short term interventions and to do this we have an intensive review model for our daily practice.

Our contact time with young people is limited to 4 hours a day. Following those face to face interventions we meet as a team and discuss the day, raise the positives but more critically analyse where we have concerns either about our practice or the current status of the young person. As a result we make daily and weekly adjustments and adaptations to our programs.

As a bridging organisation we have a key role in facilitating onward provision by fostering effective links and working relationships. This reflective approach also provides us with the capacity to be able to deliver those outcomes whether it be a transfer to school, college or employment.

In weekly meetings we provide weekly in house training  or ‘tool box talks’ on professional development issues

We engage in relevant and up to date training to further strengthen our professional capacity:

These have included:

  • Attachment theory and practice
  • de-escalation
  • non violent responses
  • listening and reflecting back emotions
  • transactional analysis
  • mirroring
  • behaviour management through focus on learning objectives

Behaviour Resolution/Management

Many of the young people have difficulties with regulation of their behaviours and have made the implementation of boundaries by their schools and their parents or carers very difficult.

In our experience, 99.99% of children and young people , want the adults in their lives to be in control, to contain, hold and help them develop and learn in a ‘safe’ environment.

We are aiming toward being able to say ‘No’ to a young person and for them to be able to accept that. Unfortunately, they are just not going to make it easy for us to do that - they are going to try and test us all to the limits.

So it is our job at 360 Learning and Skills to be able to help implement boundaries and expectations. Sometimes we have to embrace the very challenging behaviours with young people and their families to achieve that - but that is what we are prepared to do, to withstand abuse both verbal and physical, temper tantrums, broken windows etc. Sometimes it feels that things might need to get worse before they can get better.

Unless this approach is the way toward the bubble of boundaries resistance being burst and progress being made we do try to de-escalate situations at all times. We implement  behaviour resolution strategies that preferably end a day with a positive achievement. These might include:

  • We have to remember that a young person behaves in a certain way because they are trying to communicate something - through our reflective practice process we try to analyse that communication and make the necessary adaptations to our practice
  • Go back the next day and have a fresh start -  tomorrow is always a new day and we will go over the expectations again until the young person knows and trusts that we are all there to see this difficult time through to its positive conclusion.
  • De-escalation - we do not practice positive handling and will always look for opportunities for the situation to be calmed and resolved at a later time (parents who have completed NVR will recognise this as ‘strike while the irons cold’ approach)
  • Positive body and verbal language - we try to communicate that we respect and care for young people
  • Non Knee Jerk - this is our own version of NVR. Staff are trained not to implement off the cuff punitive measures on the spot. Young people are reminded that their behaviour has crossed a boundary and that we will review it as a team and discuss it next time. this is where our daily reflective practice is of great use
  • Clear communication - about plans, activities, arrangements etc to lessen anxiety and clearly frame expectations
  • Interpersonal qualities - the young people we work with are hypervigilant with regard to people that they can’t get along with. Support, supervision, careful daily structuring, constant review and discussion provide staff with the personal capacity to  withstand the anger and the insults until it passses
  • encouragement and reward

Partner Network

All business and organisations rely on positive relationships and good networks and this is particularly critical in the work of 360 in delivering real outcomes to our young people.

Why are our partners so crucial:

  • Many of the activities and programs take place in the community because this provides learners with the non abstract, real opportunities that are so engaging and transformative
  • To use the services of an expert in a field i.e. professional boxing gym motivates the young person to fully respect their input
  • This respect leads critically to the young person learning and respecting the boundaries that expert applies and we then help that young person apply that positive behaviour to a formal learning or employment environment
  • By a careful process of due diligence we can ensure high quality provision and facilities that would otherwise not be possible
  • A network of partners enables us to provide a truly bespoke package for a  young person based on their areas of interest and motivation

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Some of our partners are:

  • Bransgore Pet Shop
  • St Marys RC Primary School, Poole
  • Fit2Box, Bournemouth
  • Dorset Skirnish Paintball, Bere Regis
  • St Aldhelms Academy, Poole
  • Longspee School, Poole
  • YMCA Bournemouth
  • Stourvale Children’s Centre, Pokesdown, Bournemouth
  • Roy Spicer  Company
  • Prevail Skatepark

We are also thankful to the many organisations that provide us with favourable discounts to support the nature of our work.