Education
When a young person’s first contact with school is shaped by a lack of understanding and even rejection, it can lead them down the path of someone who has learned that they are disposable, or at least incompatible with mainstream education.
What might an education system look like if it were to support young people more proactively, before it gets harder to change the path they’re heading down?
Talk it Out Session
The LPAC team led a Talk it Out session on education to better understand wider experiences, engaging in a discussion with 54 of their peers.
Here were the main issues discussed:
- Schools don’t see pupils as individuals
- Teachers have a lot of pressure put on them and project it on to students
- Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) as a prison pipeline
- Teachers try to be mediators and mentors but are not equipped to do this
- Zero or low exclusion policies need to be adopted
- More structured youth provision is needed and to be made available through schools
- More qualified therapists needed in schools
Actions taken
LPAC worked with the Motivate & Lead Community Enterprise (MLCE), a youth club providing young people with the opportunities thrive. Together, we have delivered workshops aimed at providing young people with the skills and support needed to manage conflict, avoid school exclusions, improve relationships and to respond to disruption in their families.