The Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace
The Foundation for Peace runs a number of different projects targeting
young people aged 13-19 who are not in education, employment or training,
or who are at risk of becoming NEET. Many of these young people come from
disadvantaged backgrounds and are struggling to engage in education. The
Full On programme provides individualised targeted intervention to select
groups of students identified as being of particular risk of disengagement or
exclusion from education by schools and other referral agencies across the
Warrington and the Greater Manchester area. Specific courses are delivered
over a period of 6-12 weeks tackling issues such as anger management,
conflict resolution and confidence and self awareness to provide students with
the understanding, knowledge and skills to better deal with their individual
barriers to engagement.
Background
Partcipant A joined the Full On programme as part of a group of Year 10/11 students from a High
School in Wigan undertaking a Confidence and Self Awareness course. Within school she had poor
attendance and displayed constant and negative attention seeking behaviour which was greatly
impacting upon her engagement and achievement. Throughout the programme it became apparent
that her negative behaviour was covering a multitude of insecurities including self doubt and an
extremely poor self image. Even though she was a vocal and involved student; at times participant A
was reluctant to be open and honest in sharing her views and opinions and did not apply herself fully
to activities. She completed the bare minimum of work required to complete the programme and
chose not to invest in the course for fear of failing.
Achievements
Participant A had good attendance throughout the programme and only missed one session due to a
pre-arranged meeting at school. Although she could have achieved at a higher level partcipant A did
complete all activities satisfactorily and has now achieved a Level 1 Award in Skills Towards Enabling
Progression - a nationally recognised qualification.
Focus of Case Study
This particular group were idenitfied as having specific issues relating to Confidence and Self Awareness
which was resulting in negative behaviours, disengagement from education and many other personal
and social problems.
Demonstrating Success
As part of the Full On programme the group partcipated in a two hour session at Challenge 4 Change
which was specifically designed to encourage the young people to push themselves outside of their
normal comfort zones and to provide opportunities for them to achieve things that they originally
thought were unachieveable. Through this experience it was hoped that many of the students would
gain improved confidence and self belief which would then improve their confidence and engagement
in other activities, including their education.
Demonstrating Impact
All of the group participated in most of the activiteis run by Challenge 4 Change and only one or
two struggled with some of the more difficult challenges. The young people thoroughly enjoyed
the experience and found the practical, kineasthetic style of learning to be engaging and accessible
regardless of their individual needs or barriers to education. Partcipant A gained a lot from her
experience at Challenge 4 Change and for the first time really tested and challenged herself. During the
ariel trek she faced her fear of heights and completed the course stating, "I feel really proud of myself, I
didn’t think I could have done that."
*Due to the nature of of our programmes and the young people that we work with there are a number of issues
regarding confidentiality and safeguarding which mean that we are unable to disclose personal information.