Looking for our Schools Educate Hub Platform and resource toolbox?
Lives Not Knives (LNK) have worked with 10,400 young people over the last 2 years, many of whom identified with multiple needs due to socioeconomic circumstances, by keeping them in education and lowering their chances of becoming involved in youth crime. LNK offer support to young people who suffer from issues such as, Attention Deficit, Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD),Anxiety, Oppositional Defiant Disorder (OOD), Depression and Low Self-esteem.
LNK offer support to young people exposed to domestic and sexual abuse, neglect, grooming and gang culture. By keeping them in education we have reduced the risk of getting involved in criminal activity and have changed outlooks on education with our young people looking to further education and on how to deal with their emotions.
Empowering Teachers
Along with working with young people LNK have trained and retrained 500 teachers on delivering LNK teachers resource pack. Resources for teachers to approach the subject of youth violence and feel better equipped to answer questions by the young people.
Since piloting LNK educate we have trained 500 teachers to deliver resources, working with schools to identify young people that are most at risk of being excluded from school because the numbers of Croydon’s children experiencing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) is exceptionally high for example, the proportion and number of children in care is the highest in Outer London. Many children experiencing ACEs enter a destructive spiral of social and school exclusion and involvement in criminal activity (Bellis 2014).
Collectively the teachers and LNK mentors reached over 10000 young people and identified 400 young people who needed 121 mentoring on a weekly basis with an LNK mentor These young people had multiple socioeconomic needs which included –
- Youth crime
- Household where parents were in receipt of free school meals
- Ethnic minority background
- Living in an economically, deprived area
- Mental health
- ADHD
- Living in Care
One-to-one Mentoring
An LNK mentor can significantly influence young people already involved in criminal activities or at risk of such by engaging, offering an affirmation of direction in career, therefore advancing equality of opportunity.
“The mentors are of real help in building the young people’s confidence and self-esteem, which in turn helps to create positive and engaged members of the school and local community.”
Deborah Center DSEN Learning zone Leader Oasis academy
The need for this support to keep young people in education is widely accepted given that 50% of the UK's prison population were expelled from schools. ( institute of Public Policy 2017)
Excluded pupils are seven times more likely to have special educational needs (National Crime Agency)
Pupils entitled to free school meals are four times more likely to be excluded than those who are not entitled (National Crime Agency).
Last year the LNK Educate Programme involved one to one mentoring with 24 young people each at eight schools within Croydon. Based at the school, the young people have been referred following a teacher training programme, whereby teachers’ resources are shared and work with LNK mentors to identify young people who need further one to one support to keep them in mainstream school to avoid them being excluded from school and to set them goals and teach them coping techniques within the school timetable.
- We can confirm that all 150 young people managed to stay within mainstream education whilst receiving the one to one support.
- 150 hardest to reach young people at risk of exclusion remained in full time education, therefore keeping them off the streets and in a safe environment
- 150 hardest to reach young people were able to build confidence with a mentor and learn coping mechanisms within the school environment.
What the school leads had to say -
“In conclusion, we would like, budget permitting, for LNK to continue their work with our students as the service is having a positive impact on the students that are mentored as well as on the whole school community. As has been mentioned, LNK helps to raise student achievement as well as supporting the school in creating a community that listens to its students and is proactive in supporting student needs."
“We hope that a long-term relationship with LNK will bring about a reduction in NEET’s (Not in Education or Employment Training), greater engagement in more appropriate post 16 destinations with sustainability. The long-term effects would hopefully be a reduction in (re)offending statistics, crime statistics and prolongation of life. So, it is important to us that we carry on working with Lives Not Knives.”
Gareth Denton Head of Provision, Saffron Valley Collegiate Moving On