I get help from my youth worker

You get to develop team building skills with others

You get to learn about new activities and life time experiences

Feeling of being accepted

Time to be yourself

Time to go back to your childhood

Meet new people and develop my confidence

Others get emotional help from trained professionals

They also get a chance to be themselves and act without being judged

Get support for bad habits

Get to go on new adventures and meet people along the way

Develop characteristics

As a specialist provision for boys with social, emotional and mental health difficulties, Reach is an invaluable part of our individualised provision. Students will often request to attend Reach and are reluctant for provision to come to an end! As the member of staff responsible for co-ordinating personalised provision, I can’t praise Dan and his team enough. They make my job so much easier by being flexible around students’ needs and timetabling restrictions and always go the extra mile to ensure that Reach is successful for each individual student-nothing is too much trouble! Communication between professionals is key for our students and Dan and his team require high praise indeed for ensuring that information is always shared in a timely manner, to ensure a joined up approach which enables us to get the best possible outcomes for our students. Our partnership with Reach is an integral part of what we offer at Sky College; they welcome our most complex students and support us in ensuring that they experience success.

We have worked  in partnership with REACH and Dan Palmer for a number of years now.

Their commitment to our young people is superb.

REACH  provide a safe, positive environment helping young people to develop the skills necessary to succeed both in school and life outside.

They have a fab, dedicated team and make a difference to so many young people’s lives .

Long may it continue.

Fairmead School have worked with Dan Palmer and his staff with the REACH project for a number of years.

REACH provides our students with a tailor-made timetable to support their emotional, social and behavioural needs.  Our students are always keen to attend and fully engage with the activities on offer to them in a safe and friendly environment.

Dan and his team are always supportive of our students’ individual needs and provides an opportunity for them to develop relationships with their mainstream peers and allows for new experiences and social and emotional development.

REACH provides an additional option for our students timetables that encourages raising self esteem as well as giving them the opportunity to talk to the experienced staff at REACH.  Feedback to the school is efficient and detailed and as expected Safeguarding is addressed and reported at all times.  Students enjoy the outdoor pursuits that challenge them to be the best they can be.

Thank you so much, this is an excellent opportunity for this young person

Thank you to you and your team for your excellent work with and unrelenting commitment to him.

Thanks for a really fab year. I think our partnership is really special.

Thanks for meeting me today and thanks for the compliments, it really helped to talk to you about it all and I found no trouble confiding personal information to you which I thought that I would. This is going to sound weird I know but whilst I was telling you about my life etc, I actually felt like I was interesting and that someone wanted to talk to me, I dont get to feel like that very often. I look forward to our next meeting and thanks for everything 🙂

The whole experience was clearly a remarkable thing for our young people and they have been really full of it, of all they have learned and enthused lots of other pupils who are terribly jealous that they cannot try it. Many thanks for all the hard work that went into making this project happen. Brilliant.

The REACH project has been fantastic for engaging our most challenging students. It provides them with opportunities to succeed outside the school environment and teaches crucial skills which they can use on their return to school to help build more positive relationships. The project challenges them to try new things and take risks without fear of failing, and even if they struggle it helps them realise that is all part of the learning process, thus building their resilience.

The staff at Reach are great at working alongside the school and have supported the students with difficulties in school and have always shown a willingness to attend meetings and provide feedback. Each week a report is produced which provides good evidence on the learning and gives the opportunity for dialogue and praise with the student.

The Horizon Centre has worked in partnership with Reach Youth since January 2010, and with Dan Palmer for a number of years.

All our young people have an opportunity to engage in the opportunities offered by Reach Youth, in small groups on a half-termly basis.  To date, all have chosen to do this, and all have requested further provision and additional sessions.

Reach Youth successfully negotiate all activities directly with the young people themselves, in agreement with the centre, and all programmes are therefore tailor-made to suit individual needs and interests.  The young people like being able to choose the focus of their own sessions, and thus take a real ownership for their own learning and outcomes.

Reach Youth are able to offer intensive small group work that supports and builds on our own ethos and focuses on the social, emotional and behavioral development of our students.

This form of provision enables us to further meet the  Five Outcomes of Every Child Matters, with its emphasis on participation, making a positive contribution, enjoying and achieving, and developing personal and social skills necessary for the post-16 world.

There is a real emphasis on personal challenge, often through outdoor pursuits, and each session works towards raising students’ self-esteem and confidence, enabling all to maximise their potential and experience success.

Reach Youth, in liaison with the centre, are accrediting an increasing number of their activities through the AQA Unit Award Scheme, so that the students get the benefit of certification for their efforts and success, and this contributes to their National Record of Achievement.  Reach Youth also reward students with their own in-house certificates and have previously given these, accompanied by speeches, at our Annual Awards Evening.

The centre receives formal written feedback promptly.  The feedback links to ECM and it is clear, well-presented and informative, often accompanied by photographs that are used to build portfolios for the students and the centre.

Reach Youth also take an active role in the wider work of the centre, attending Team Brief, Consultation Meetings and individual meetings for students, as and when appropriate. They have also assisted with home visits and 1:1 work to engage our young people.

The Horizon Centre’s work with Reach Youth and its success to date, as evidenced by the students themselves – formally and informally – is an outstanding example of effective partnership working, to secure better outcomes for young people.

The Tone Education Centre runs an education provision providing individual tailor-made timetables for young people, including college links, vocational training links, work experience, forest school and curriculum based education. Local gyms are used to deliver fitness, as well outdoor based activities. We work closely with outside agencies and parents/carers, meeting the needs of each and every individual.

Our provision caters for boys and girls mostly from Key Stage 4 who for one reason or another cannot sustain a placement in mainstream school and or alternative education placements within Somerset. In addition to meeting the young people’s educational needs, the centre also supplies support for their emotional, social and behavioural needs. Where staffs are not trained in a specific need, training will be sought to ensure that every young person can be included in the provision.
Our main aim is inclusion for all the young people we work with.

I have been working closely with Dan Palmer for nine years now, during this time Dan has always been supportive of our young adults and given further support and guidance if needed.

Dan has always welcomed our young adults no matter what background or difficulties they may have. He supports them by raising their self esteem and confidence which then is bought back into the classroom enabling them to become more confident learners. He is non judgemental and offers emotional and behavioural support alongside

Dan is consistent and supportive to both staff and young adults; he is fully aware of the individual needs and takes time to ensure all relevant paperwork H&S is addressed.He is always looking for a way forward to enable the young person and staff at The Reach Project to continue the work in a positive, safe and happy environment. All our young adults enjoy going to The Reach project, they fell safe to take on new challenges and are happy to talk to Dan regarding any concerns or issues they may have.

A select group of Year 9 students have successfully completed a 20 hour Peer Mentor training programme ran by Zara Coulson, Youth worker/trainer from Reach. All students that took part made extremely positive comments not only about the content of the training but the creative and supportive way it was delivered. Zara is an outstanding educator, her charisma and approachable manner ensures that the training sessions have the necessary impact. From start to finish the students were fully engaged and gained fantastic skills to enable them to become responsible and considerate mentors to students within the Academy.

I cannot speak with higher regard for the work that Zara and the Reach programme does, it is thoroughly professional and in tune with the attitudes of young adults today.

As a PRU we often struggle to find alternative provision that suits our young people. The partnership with REACH has developed into a really valuable part of our provision, one that students now ask to be a part of. The ability to ask for particular areas to be addressed during the sessions gives confidence that it is not just the activity that is going on, but work around social, emotional and behavioural issues. The activities are really popular and it is evident from student feedback that they are often challenging as well as fun. Staff feedback is comprehensive and valuable and is followed up by tutors at the Mendip Centre. Staff are flexible and do their very best to meet the needs of our young people, which are complex individually and often more so in a group.

As a PRU we value the work of REACH highly, and I know that this is shared by our students.

“I’d like to thank you and all your colleagues for all the help and support you have given Harley which has also helped us as a family. It is greatly appreciated. Harley has really enjoyed his time with you there. Can’t thank you enough.”

With this week being his final time with REACH, I would like to express my appreciation to you and your team for all the support and opportunities that has been afforded to M over several months. He has tasted many new experiences some of which he can take forward in the future.

Thank you also for the time taken to develop M’s social skills through group involvement.

Wishing you and your team every success for the future.