SASH Young People Coordinator Tiffany Wilkey with Kabs and Lydia who will benefit from the new project.
The Skills Project
Giving young people in Whitby, Ryedale and Scarborough the skills they need
Everything we do at SASH is aimed at enabling vulnerable young people to become truly independent and move on to lead successful lives. A key part of this is helping them to access education and employment.
However, 90 per cent of the 16-25 year olds we support in the Scarborough area do not have their Maths and English GCSE. This is usually the result of non-attendance at school, perhaps because they were in and out of care, dealing with abuse or caring for a parent or sibling. The lack of qualifications is a major hurdle when it comes to continuing education or applying for jobs.
90 per cent of the young people we support in the Scarborough area do not have a GCSE Maths and English qualification
Getting young people in this position to re-engage with learning can be difficult. Some have had a poor experience at school and are reluctant to try again, even in a college setting. Others try to gain the qualifications at the same time as doing a vocational course or apprenticeship, but find it hard to make adequate progress.
Focused tuition, tailored teaching
To address the situation, we applied for a grant from the Sirius Mineral Foundation, which aims to give back to the local communities where Sirius operate. We have been awarded a grant of £25,000 which will allow us to source focused tuition for those in our service who need it.
The teaching will be tailored to the needs of each individual, to enable them to achieve their Maths and English GCSEs. They will be able to learn at their own pace, in an environment where they feel comfortable and which will allow them to build confidence in their own abilities.
The first young people will start to benefit this April, with the programme set to continue until June 2020. We’re looking forward to reporting back on the success of those taking part.
