 
www.extend-youthdevelopment.org
Nearly 4 years ago, the Directors of people=positive™ started a conversation about how we could contribute something meaningful to the development of young people. Many of our clients reflected that their own personal development opportunities when they were young people had not always prepared them effectively for independent living and working. They told us that it would have been great if they had been able to learn more about the skills of teamwork and communication at school. We recognised that many teachers would agree that this was an important area of development but that the demands of fulfilling the academic priorities of the curriculum meant that resources were constrained.
Recent research by the Prince’s Trust reveals that nearly 25% of the 16-25 year olds polled said that they were often down or depressed. In April last year the Children's Society's Good Childhood Inquiry, a state-of-the-nation overview of childhood, said in an interim report that more than a quarter (27%) of the 8,000 14- to 16-year-olds it interviewed regularly felt depressed. The inquiry, a two-year rolling programme of research, also reported that just 9% of adults felt children are happier today than when they were growing up. This adds to the growing evidence that the development of personal resilience and confidence in young people is a key area requiring support and is where eXtend is focusing its input.
We decided after consultation with a number of agencies and professional youth workers to set out on a new and innovative approach. We approached our two local secondary schools in the Spey Valley where our head office is located and offered to invest time and energy in working with them to design and deliver personal development experiences as part of the school learning journey. It took a little time to gain the trust of the teaching staff but now we are seen as being members of a learning and development partnership. This part of eXtend’s work is a long-term project, where the intention is to maintain eXtend involvement throughout the school career of around 600 pupils from final years of primary school to the end of their secondary years.
Through this ‘pilot’ we aim to refine a set of support tools and resource materials that would enable this approach to be easily replicated in other areas. We have drawn on the experience we have built up over 20 years working with teams and developing leaders to design a number of short modular programmes focusing on key topics around the theme of Living & Working with others. Our goal is to equip young people with the understanding and the skills to tackle challenges and make choices with confidence. We are defining confidence as ‘an individual’s belief that he/she can reach certain goals plus the general belief that the future is bright’ – a combination of self-efficacy + optimism.
eXtend is now in its fourth year and becoming a well established independent charitable trust with its own Board of Trustees. people=positive™ founded the project and now supports the charity by funding two days a week of p=p Director Barney Mackie’s time dedicated to eXtend’s programme. Attracting funding for our work is challenging – we’re working at a level that we believe is incredibly important but not as visible in short-term impact as some other charities. Our work is also not targeted at one particular interest group as we believe that every pupil can and should benefit from the development experience that we are bringing to the school.
Download these files pdf1 and pdf2 for more info about extend's work.
|
