Latest news with #youthSupport
BBC News
03-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
The Doncaster cafe helping young people back into education
A cafe supporting young people back into education and employment has opened in Cafe has been set up by Future Pathways, which works with students with additional needs or who have left mainstream will serve the public as a regular cafe, but will also help students gain work experience and obtain qualifications in fields such as Pathways founder Lauren Meston said: "When going for the job interviews in workplaces, the customer service is a real important element, so we thought this is perfect - it covers all areas." The charity also runs a salon in Doncaster, Pathways Beauty Academy, which it opened in September well as undertaking work placements and specialist qualifications, students continue to study traditional subjects such as English and only attend the programme a few days a week as they continue with their schooling."I've worked with young people for over 20 years now, and I saw a real gap with young people that didn't get the advantage that other young people did," said Ms Meston."The amount of young people that we're helping has increased every year, and it just fills me with joy." Tommy, 15, said he had struggled to conform to his high school, and he was permanently excluded in Year 10."I think it was just the overcrowded environment, being in such a big classroom with 30 people, it's just overwhelming maybe, overstimulating for some people."It just didn't work with my brain."He had previously been expected to attain 1s in his GCSE exams (equivalent to an F or G under the old grading system).Since joining Future Pathways, he was now predicted 4s - the grade needed to pass."It's shorter lessons, more focused, smaller groups, and less people - so you get more one-to-one support and help," he said. Freya, 17, was a student with Future Pathways when she was in school, and returned to work with the charity after graduating from called it a "stepping stone" towards her goal of working with said that she "hated" going to school, and when she was in Year 7, a teacher told her she "probably wouldn't make it to the end of Year 11 or sit her GCSEs".However, she changed schools and started attending St Wilfrid's Academy in Doncaster, which suggested she should go to Future Pathways three days a went on to pass all her exams except for maths, which she said she had failed by a single said she hoped she could make a difference to the lives of other young people like her."I just want children to want to learn, even if that means they can't sit down in a classroom with a textbook in front of them and write things down all day long."I want them to feel like they've got someone they can rely on to help set them up for the future - which is what school should be about." Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds or catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
The Independent
13-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
‘Punching walls' and ‘shouting': Inside the worrying rise of children reporting anger issues
Thousands of children and young people are increasingly turning to Childline for help with anger issues, new data reveals. Data from children's charity NSPCC, who run the helpline, reveals that they have delivered nearly 3,000 counselling sessions about anger management issues to children in the past year. The problem is on the rise, with the helpline seeing a six per cent increase in these support sessions compared to the year before. Children and young people are increasingly struggling to manage and control their emotions, the NSPCC said. One 15-year-old boy who approached Childline for help had been punching the wall repeatedly. He said that he had to stop because it was 'messing up my knuckles', but that it was a response to everyone in his house shouting and arguing. He told the service that the noise was too much and he struggled to know how to respond. When his mother tried to ask how he was, he would lie so that he didn't create further arguments. A girl, aged nine, got in touch to share that she felt angry all of the time. She said shouting was a regular way that she would express herself and she felt she was only listened to if she shouted. The charity said that children were often struggling with how to regulate their emotions during challenging situations, and others are aggressively criticising themselves. Among the topics of mental health concern that children phone Childline about, anger issues were ranked tenth for girls and sixth for boys. Shaun Friel, director of Childline, said: 'The fact that children are reaching out for help about their anger issues reflects the growing emotional challenges young people face in today's complex world. 'We're seeing firsthand how pressures at home, school, online and in communities are affecting children's ability to manage and deal with difficult emotions'. The research comes after teachers warned that young children are increasingly starting primary school struggling to communicate. Teachers said they had been noticing declining school preparedness in young children since the pandemic, with some unable to answer to their own names or go to the toilet by themselves. A YouGov survey of over 1,000 teachers found that educators blamed lack of conversation with parents and family as a driver for this decline, with 58 per cent listing this as a factor.
