Based in Tower Hamlets in the East End of London, Toynbee Hall’s new Aspire programme works to embed an innovative approach to learning for disengaged young people who are not fully grasping the opportunities that school offers them. Six months into this pilot year, young people describe feeling more like themselves, being liked as they are, and no longer isolated...
How Aspire works
Aspire works by selecting and training adult volunteer coaches who have the experience and maturity to offer vital support and encouragement to 50 Year 10 pupils, selected for participation by their teachers. Groups of young people meet pairs of coaches regularly to think together about their learning and challenge their disengagement. The activities aim to build confidence, and encourage higher aspirations. Linking what we do with what happens in schools is crucial to our success; modular activities running parallel to the academic year focus on citizenship, the arts and the outdoors. The modules take place in school time, after school, on-site and off-site. This flexibility recognises the increasingly flexible nature of school life and the lives of young people everywhere.
Aspire doesn’t target the typical groups of young people we recognise from the media – exceptionally gifted and talented pupils, those who are completely rejecting school life or those who become involved in crime. Understandably much of education policy and strategy has led to initiatives that cater for those groups. Conversely, Aspire is for young people who are ‘invisible’ in school, switched off from learning and just drifting through without coming close to fulfilling their potential – they don’t ordinarily qualify for support. Initiatives for engaging young people universally and rightly have in common the offer of a positive relationship with a significant adult. Aspire provides a flexible and robust yet undemanding framework within which disengaged young people can safely practice the skills needed to build good relationships central to making a mark in the world personally, socially and educationally.
To learn more about the components of Aspire, its partners and evaluation model, contact Jane Fletcher at jane.fletcher@toynbeehall.org.uk or learn more at www.toynbeehall.org.uk.