Moving from advice to action

It has been an eventful few months! The Finding Common Ground project has led me into contact with a very wide range of families who are struggling with schools. I have coupled my advice work on FCG with continuing to teach part-time in a mainstream secondary. being a school governor and continuing to train, advise and assess in the areas of inclusion and trauma informed practice.

More importantly, over the past year or more there has been a strong feeling that I need to do something - not just advise or assist, but use many years of experience and some expertise to create a provision that is genuinely useful.

So, with the support of a wide range of local and national partners, Sidestep Pathways launches in the next fortnight! We are a specialist EBSNA intervention alternative provision aimed at reintegrating young people back into educational pathways and supporting their families. We are working with, and based at, the wonderful Anderton Centre which provides outstanding outdoor education in our local area and we are using a model of blended provision. We are focused on wellbeing through intensive mentoring, coupled with virtual learning through our partnership with NISAI Learning, and building resilience and relationships through the provision at the Anderton Centre. Importantly, we are building in reintegration - the mentor will go into the educational institution with the young person providing continuity of support until it can be phased out and handed over. All this is underpinned by trauma-informed practice, Educational Psychologist oversight and specialist SEND advice. We launch with an initial cohort of 12 young people in the next couple of weeks with places being commissioned by the LA and local schools! It is all very exciting...!

I feel as though all my experiences in the educational system have led me to this point and I am privileged that many people for whom I have great respect consider it a good idea and are helping. We have a superb group of trustees and we have appointed an outstanding team of mentors, working alongside the expert staff from the Anderton Centre.

If you are interested in following our journey, helping, being a trustee, or commissioning places please see our website www.sidestep.org.uk - links to our socials are on there. We are based in Chorley and South Ribble in Lancashire.

Finding Common Ground continues - I am giving Sunday afternoon/evening and Mondays to Finding Common Ground and the rest of the week to Sidestep. I have stopped teaching and all my other work to focus on the areas where I think that I can make most of a difference to the young people, and their families, who often go down the gaps of our education system.

Life is always interesting!