OBJECTIVE ONE HELPS CAMBORNE, POOL & REDRUTH SUCCESS ZONE PREVENT EXCLUSIONS

Fifteen secondary school students from Camborne, Pool and Redruth are receiving help from local youth advice and counselling centre Dreadnought, to help prevent exclusion from school.

The £88,080 three-year project, which is being co-ordinated by the CPR Success Zone, has received £39,086 of Objective One European Social Fund (ESF) funding to provide the necessary support and guidance to year eight and nine students aged 13 to 14.

The CPR Success Zone, which is funded by the Department of Education and Skills, is the only education action zone in Cornwall, dealing with children of all ages through a variety of programmes.

The young people receiving help from Dreadnought are selected by appropriate staff in the three secondary schools because of a range of social, emotional or behavioural difficulties and find it difficult to integrate into school life without support. The programme involves the fifteen students from the three different schools coming together and working as a team, despite their different backgrounds.

Between September and July the fifteen students attend the Dreadnought centre for half a day a week. During the group sessions the students learn about anger management and how to build their self-esteem.

Commenting on the importance of the scheme for the students involved, CPR Success Zone Work Related Team Leader Alan Rowling said: "The objective of the CPR success zone is to raise self-esteem for children all ages of in the area. The group of students identified for assistance through this project were selected because they may have been at risk from expulsion and it was felt that Dreadnought, with their proven track record of working with children with these specific difficulties, could make a valuable contribution to the futures of the 15 students involved in the scheme.

"Objective One funding has been vital to the creation of this scheme and we are hopeful that the project will be successful in turning around the lives of the students involved.”

Dreadnought team leader Hannah Stevens, who works with the students in their group sessions, explained the value of the project: "The sessions give the young people the breathing space and support to identify and address the specific issues which give them problems integrating at school. Through a range of activities ranging from issue based discussions to crafts and team building games, we aim to build a self supporting group where young people can learn and rehearse social skills which will aid them in their school and home lives.”

Carleen Kelemen, Director of the Programme Partnership Office, welcomed the project. "The challenge of the Programme is about investing in all our tomorrows - this project is helping raise the aspirations of this group of young people.”