Katie's Story
Katie had begun finding herself in conflict with her peers and with members of staff at her school. Her mother was growing increasingly concerned that she was simply disengaging, both at home and at school, and her teachers were similarly worried about her progress. She showed specific risks in peer relationships, emotional problems, confidence, wellbeing and school engagement.
AllChild identifies children and young people who don’t yet require high-needs support, but who have a range of risk factors that could lead to more serious intervention later. Teacher and parental insight is combined with survey data via a Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, a wellbeing measurement tool which helps to identify children struggling with their social and emotional wellbeing.
Working closely with her Link Worker, Fatima, her year head and mother, they built a 2 year plan to help Katie deal with the challenges she faced. There are no quick fixes, so having a 2 year commitment of a trusted adult is crucial to helping young people over the longer term.
Katie was able to get involved in several programs that helped her gain confidence, but it was the QPR Community Trust program that Fatima helped her to access gave Katie the chance to play football in their under 16s squad and set a goal of joining their QPR College Academy on turning 16.
At the end of her two years working with Fatima and the AllChild programme, Katie’s progress has been fantastic. Her Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire results now show no identified risks, and her overall behaviour at school has markedly improved. She’s no longer socially isolated or disengaged and her future looks bright!