Christian charity gives 'last chance' to troubled pupils

2:39am Tuesday 13th May 2008

Comments (6)   Have your say »

Latest figures show one pupil is suspended in Bradford's secondary school system every 18 minutes.

However, a charity founded in the city 21 years ago is now playing a lead role in turning around the fortunes of some of the region's most troubled schoolchildren.

At the top of the M606, on former derelict land, The Lighthouse Group (TLG) has opened a state-of-the-art centre which aims to offer a final safety net to young people excluded or at risk of exclusion from school. Inside, more than 30 teachers and youth workers are on hand to give tailored support to youngsters referred from across Bradford, Calderdale and Leeds.

The centre features facilities which would grace any secondary school. They include a large sports hall, fully-equipped gym, four self-contained housing units available to young people living away from home, a fully-equipped music studio, multi-media unit and interview, training and classrooms.

Around 48 young people are already visiting the centre each week, typically spending three days working through their own programme at the unit before returning to school for the remaining two days. All are referred via schools, social services and youth offending teams.

TLG chief executive Tim Morfin says many schools and education authorities now recognise that schoolchildren could be kept inside the schools system by receiving intensive support dedicated to their needs.

He said: "There is a recognition that there is a need to work in a tailored and intensive way with young people that have a particular set of needs and challenges.

"We work to a behaviour contract which is agreed by all parties and forms the basis of the boundaries that young people need.

"There is a recognition by mainstream schools that the voluntary and community sector has a part to play in providing the support that young people require.

"Our vision is that we would bring together everyone with an interest in the education of the child so that we can work together in partnership.

"The needs of young people at risk of exclusion from school are creating a big opportunity for the work of The Lighthouse Group with our vision being for 66 centres across the UK."

Before students begin their time at the centre, each must sign up to an individual behaviour contract. The contracts last between three and 18 months, depending on individual level of need. It is hoped that young people will be able to return to mainstream education at the end of their contracts.

Small classes of eight are taught by three members of staff, with lessons taught in bite-size chunks of around 20 minutes.

And, although each classroom's traditional desks are complemented by IT equipment, sofas and pool table, attendance is no easy ride.

TLG spokesman Paul Chenery said: "We offer them tailored programmes where they can study for GCSE equivalent qualifications. They might not have attended school due to lots of reasons, including family breakdown, drug and alcohol abuse, bullying, bereavement, poverty, gang culture or illness.

"It is a little bit of a last chance in some ways. The young people who come here might already have gone through a learning support unit attached to their school and then a Pupil Referral Unit.

"Here, they work in classes of eight with three members of staff: a teacher, support teacher and youth worker. They are key really because they are helping them with their education as well as their needs and the reasons for their disaffection - and also act as mentors in and out of the classroom.

"We interview them and each young person must agree to a set of boundaries. And interestingly, they do want to learn, school has simply not worked out for them for one reason or another.

"It's so different from school that they very often respond to that. It's their last chance. It's no smooth ride - but there is flexibility that you don't get in a school classroom."

TLG's work has received plaudits from national figures, including Conservative Party leader David Cameron and former Deputy Prime Minister Lord Heseltine, who visited Bradford to find out more last year.

Mr Cameron labelled TLG's work a prime example of social responsibility, saying the charity gave head teachers the chance to expel pupils because the Lighthouse scheme would be on hand to help turn their lives around.

Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith also spent a week working in Bradford with TLG. On his return to Westminster he reported being "humbled" by the efforts of youngsters suffering in ways he could not imagine.

Key to the group's philosophy is the importance of working in partnership - Lighthouse staff aim to develop a strong partnership with parents and carers alongside schools and education authorities. Mr Morfin sees that partnership as vital, as society throws up more challenges for future generations.

"The curriculum invests in basic and key skills so that young people are equipped to return to mainstream education," he added. "There are certainly more young people being identified as having needs that traditional education is unable to meet."

Latest figures show that, during 2005/6, 1,091 suspensions were given out to teenagers for verbally abusing an adult in Bradford schools.

A further 860 were issued for physical assaults against a fellow pupil, and 159 against an adult. Bullying accounted for 54 of the fixed term exclusions and youngsters were banned 104 times for drug or alcohol-related incidents.

The unit also acts as a support hub for the group's work across the country. Founded in a Great Horton community centre in 1987, TLG now also has branches in London and Birmingham and is exploring opportunities for more in Manchester, Nottingham, Leeds, Newcastle and Bristol.

e-mail: dan.webber @telegraphandargus.co.uk