Positive Futures Hawtonville, an expansion of the Trent Bridge Community Trust’s headline scheme, is looking to continue good work tackling the problem of social exclusion in young people.

An important part of the project revolves around a group of primary school children who are beginning to benefit from additional educational support through Positive Futures.

“We have a small group of 8 to 11-year-olds that were identified for extra help at the start of this academic year,” said Wright.

“This is offered weekly via Graeme Briggs, our educational community support coach, on a one-to-one basis.

“We have tried to focus on the areas that need most support and are trying to measure their development in reading, writing and mathematics on a regular basis.”

This part of the Positive Futures programme has been allowed to flourish thanks to partnerships with Nottinghamshire County Council and the area’s local schools. This specific aspect is closely linked to the council’s ‘Closing The Gaps’ strategy to look at improving locality-based working between partners in one area, in this case Newark .

“The local schools have been working really well with us,” said Mandy.

“We’re provided with baseline data from schools for each of our young people, so we have levels to aim for. 

“We recently received the first update since we started working with them, and we’re already seeing positive results.

“There’s no way we can say, hand on heart, that this is directly because of us, but we have certainly contributed to their educational development.

“Given that the scheme has so long to run with these young people, we’re hoping for great results.”

This system of receiving regular updates from the school is one that is paying dividends for both the children and Positive Futures, allowing them to map their progress and tailor the support to each individual’s needs. 

“The whole point of using six-week blocks is that we constantly receive updates regarding their progress, and can see what’s working best,” said Mandy.

“It also gives the schools a chance to establish areas for us to concentrate on in our classes too. It’s an excellent working relationship that we hope will continue to develop further in the future.”

Positive Futures’ reach extends beyond their group of primary school age children, with Project Officer Jye Vernon working closing alongside young people aged 12-15, who are at real risk of anti-social behaviour and juvenile crime.

“Jye has built an excellent relationship with his group of 12 to 15-year-olds at real risk of exclusion from school, or even crime,” added Mandy.

“He offers one-to-one support to these young people who are underachieving, have challenging behaviour or whose attendance is poor in school.

“He isn’t someone from the school, they don’t see him as a teacher, which has enabled him to work well with them to improve their attendance, behaviour and attainment levels.”

By working closely with the area’s local schools, Positive Futures have been able to identify needs on an individual basis. While the relationship is mutually beneficial, Mandy feels that they offer a different type of support to what is offered inside school hours.

“Jye has built a good level of trust with his group, so they open up to him a little more,” she said. 

“Kids tend to drop into the centre to come and have a chat, and we get to know the families a lot better than the schools would. We have a really good handle on what their home life is like, what impacts on them and possibly why they behave the way they do in school.

“Jye’s separation from school helps with that, but he can also help the schools to understand issues they wouldn’t necessarily see, as they only see the behaviour of a child at school. 

“The only way for them to find out about a child’s home life is for the child to disclose it, and that’s hugely unlikely.”

For more information on Positive Futures, visit the Trent Bridge Community Trust site here.