223 Project

The 223 Project began to run full-time in April 2008 after a successful part-time pilot. Initially, Hessle Road Network worked in partnership with Endeavour High School, offering full-time alternative learning activities to disengaged and hard to reach young people aged 11-16 years. The project had a number of successful outcomes. Staff managed to engage several young people in positive activities, work with young people on improving challenging behaviour and deliver a range of issue based sessions on subjects such as drug and alcohol misuse, smoking, healthy lifestyles, bullying, moral beliefs and values and stereotyping. We also prepared and supported young people in their transition into employment or further training by helping them realise the importance of good time-keeping and attendance, helping to improve their motivation and concentration skills and their ability to build positive relationships with others. Four young people have achieved their ASDAN Bronze Award and others are well on their way to completing their portfolios.

Since September 2009, the 223 Project has been accessible by the West Hull Inclusion Partnership (WHIP), a cluster of seven secondary schools in West Hull consisting of Endeavour High School, Sirius Academy, Kelvin Hall Specialist Science College, Sydney Smith School, Hull Trinity House, Newland School for Girls and St Mary's College. The project works with young people in years 7-9 (Key Stage 3) that are experiencing a range of difficulties within mainstream school. The young people attend the project for varying amounts of time depending on their needs and take part in a range of activities aimed at supporting the young people with issues and helping them to successfully re-engage with school. At the moment the young people are taking part in a range of activities including animal welfare and World War II projects, relationship/team building games and a variety of visits to local events, museums, galleries and sports facilities.

Accredited Learning

The aim of this work is to prepare young people for taking part in learning within a personalised programme by assessing and supporting their needs in innovative ways.

We offer learning packages which are developed according to the needs of individual young people. Alongside learning activities we also seek to provide guidance on career opportunities and routes to employment through further training.

Young people would work towards a personalised plan which will focus on building positive relationships, improving communication skills and stimulating an interest in learning. A range of issue based sessions will be delivered to young people according to their particular needs but could include topics such as bullying, drugs and alcohol misuse, relationships etc. As well as this, young people will work towards ASDAN awards (Bronze award and short courses) by taking part in a range of activities developed to suit their needs and interests. We are aware that young people have different learning styles and so to accommodate this we have developed a range of visual, audio and kinaesthetic delivery tools and methods. We have found that most young people prefer to work within small groups or on a one to one basis which we are able to accommodate with a high staff to young person ratio.

Each young person will develop a portfolio of work which will contain evidence of work towards ASDAN awards as well as evidence of personal and social development.

Other agencies and partner organisations will provide specific activities and support.

To ensure that the quality of learning is of a high standard, staff are involved in fortnightly team meetings and receive fortnightly supervision. Monthly session observations are carried out by senior members of staff. We have internal moderation every half term to ensure portfolios are of the standard required. In terms of training, all staff are given appropriate ASDAN training as well as ongoing internal training and termly planning meetings.

Personal Development

As well as working towards accredited learning we recognise the importance of assisting young people, some who have very specific needs, with personal and social development. The project is able to achieve this in a number of ways, one of the most effective being the Peer Mentoring Project. Through this project we identify young people who are 'hard to reach' and 'at risk' and offer them intensive one to one support for as long as they need it. In the past, this has included maintaining links with a young person whilst in youth custody, spending social time building positive relationships and trust, advocating on behalf of a young person, supporting a young person in attending and being involved in a Youth Conference.

An important part of the personal development of young people is their involvement in decision making and the wider community. The 223 project has implemented a 'Youth Panel' which meets weekly to make decisions which directly affect the project. The young people are encouraged to have ownership over the group by deciding the agenda and running the meetings.

The 223 Project has had some success working with a range of outside agencies in order to offer a variety of specialist information and support on a number of issues such as drugs & alcohol misuse, crime and its consequences e.g. gun & knife crime, vehicle crime and anti social behaviour. The project has also liaised with outside agencies regarding issues relating to specific young people e.g. we are aware of behavioural contracts that some young people have in order to encourage them to behave within acceptable boundaries.

We recognise the importance of offering young people new experiences which will help to broaden their horizons and enrich their lives.  In order to do this we offer a range of trips and activities which we hope will engage the young people. We have taken young people on a number of trips e.g. a reward trip to Pleasure Island, Cleethorpes, a visit to Beverley and the Westwood, a number of museums in the town centre, Hessle Foreshore and a BBQ at Dalby Forest.

General Aims:

1. Young people will be encouraged to enjoy participating in and use activities to explore their experiences and ideas.
2. Young people will engage in a range of activities that will be accredited at levels to suit the young people's progress and achievement.
3. Young people will be given opportunities to raise their confidence and self esteem, work with their peers and adults and increase their awareness of their own skills and abilities.
4. Young people will be encouraged to raise their aspirations regarding work, training and further learning.
5. Young people will be able to achieve credits transferable to other programmes - e.g. college courses.
6. Young people will be able to work towards ASDAN awards by participating in the programme.

Objectives:

1. To design and regularly review action plans and individual learning plans to map each young person's needs and learning.
2. To support young people to access help to negotiate their own progress through discussion, collaboration and evaluation with adults who can help.
3. To enable activity based, thinking and social skills to be learned through workshops, interaction with peers and staff and through performance/demonstration and showcasing.
4. To develop personal awareness, self confidence, individual and group communication skills and relationships with peers and other adults.
5. To incorporate values of trust, co-operation and respect for others into all aspects of the programme.
6. To facilitate young people's research into pathways into learning and work and to offer advice and guidance on progression.
7. To ensure progression routes are clear and signposting is relevant to young people on completion of the programme.
8. To deliver activities using equal opportunities good practice.

How we support young people in the outcomes of Every Child Matters

Be healthy
Our project specifically supports the 'Be Healthy' outcome - with priorities to promote healthy eating and lifestyles by the delivery of cookery sessions and sporting activities including indoor/outdoor sports, swimming and outward bound activities. We offer issue based sessions on a number of themes including sexual health, bullying, drug and alcohol misuse, confidence and self-esteem.

Stay safe
It supports the 'Stay Safe' outcome - by the project always providing a safe environment and also providing guidance and individual support on all aspects of personal safety, for example, we have developed a number of workshops relating to drug and alcohol misuse and work with young people on the issue of risky sexual behaviour by the distribution of condoms and partnership working with Cornerhouse.

Enjoy and achieve
It supports the 'Enjoy and Achieve' outcome - with opportunities to become involved in positive recreational activities that include a strong element of building social bonds with their peers as well as building and maintaining positive relationships with people such as teachers, the police and older members of the community. We aim to improve the educational attainment, achievement and attendance of young people through the delivery of accredited learning programmes.

Make a positive contribution
Make a Positive Contribution outcome - through the prevention of young people and children becoming involved in or affected by crime and/or anti-social behaviour. Young people are encouraged to become more involved in decision making by participating in Hull Youth Parliament and Youth Panel.

Achieve economic well-being
It supports the 'Achieve Economic Well-being' outcome - through assisting young people's progression to vocational training and the working environment, for example helping young people to prepare CV's and identifying appropriate training courses. The project offers new experiences to young people which broadens their horizons and enriches their experiences.

Case Study

A is a 15 year old who has been attending the alternative learning project at Hessle Road Network for almost two years. A was originally referred to the project because of issues within school. During his first two years at secondary school A had a very poor attendance record and when A did attend, he would often get in trouble for his behaviour. As a result, A's school referred him to Hessle Road Network hoping that within a different environment alongside one to one work, staff at Hessle Road Network would be able to work with A on addressing some of the problems he was having within school. In addition to that staff at Hessle Road Network would also provide A with an alternative learning package to meet his educational needs.
After being referred to Hessle Road Network, A immediately began to attend on a regular basis. Through providing a young-person friendly environment, staff at the project soon began to build up a positive relationship with him. Although there were times when A's behaviour was challenging by using restorative practices and positive reinforcement he was able to address his behavioural issues and gradually over time his confidence around adults and other young people began to improve.
After initially being very reluctant to do any educational work, A also began to engage within sessions. After completing his first pieces of work, he then began to show great enthusiasm for gaining an accreditation. Through hard work and dedication A has managed to build up an impressive portfolio of work and will soon gain an award for his endeavours.
Over the two years he has been attending Hessle Road Network, A has developed into a very pleasant, polite and mature young man. He often helps young people new to the project to settle in and has also reintegrated back into mainstream education by attending a college course twice a week. A is a credit to himself and to the project and is a shining example of what a young person can achieve given the right support, help and guidance.

The 223 Project Reward Trip
Bowling and Pizza Hut - October 2009

On 21st October six young people from the 223 Project went on an end of term outing to Hollywood Bowl followed by lunch at Pizza Hut. The day out was arranged as a reward for working hard during the term, everybody who went had reached their given target of credits. The credit chart is a reward system that's in place at 223 to, encourage young people to turn up on time, behave in an appropriate way and offers an incentive to young people to complete pieces of work.
A great time was had at Hollywood bowl, with some pretty tough competition for the pole position as 223's bowling champion. Andy eventually won with some pretty tough competition from Chloe and Luke!
The bowling was followed by a buffet lunch at Pizza Hut, where we all got to eat as much pizza, pasta and salad as we liked...

The Marina Visit - September 2009
On Thursday 10th September 3 young people from 223 went down to the Hull Marina to see the yachts before they embarked upon the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race. Ten yachts were due to set sail on Sunday 13th and it was a great opportunity for us to see, many different yachts from around the world.
Joe took some pretty impressive pictures of the Finnish yacht before we went off to Queens Gardens to eat lunch and watch the preparations for the Freedom Festival.

Luke tested our knowledge about the yachts and here's a great picture of us studying the brochure to find the answers