Football Beyond Borders (FBB), the national education charity that works with young people from areas of socio-economic disadvantage, will be featured in the upcoming BBC Panorama, focused on why young people miss school. Bradley, a 15 year old FBB participant, features in the programme as a success story.
After suffering the bereavement of his father last year, the programme documents Bradley’s experience at school during one of the most challenging periods of his life. FBB works with over 2,000 young people in London, Kent, Essex, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and the West Midlands.
Jack Reynolds, Football Beyond Borders’ Chief Executive, said: "Bradley’s story, like all young people we support at FBB, is unique and complex and he has done remarkably well to continue engaging at school after the loss of a parent. COVID-19 has been one of the hardest things families across this country have ever dealt with. Expecting children who have experienced difficulty in their lives to attend school without additional support for their wellbeing, and then giving fines to the families who aren’t able to provide that support - in the midst of a cost of living crisis - isn’t going to lead to better outcomes for young people.”
Lorenzo Saidi, Curriculum Lead and Youth Practitioner at FBB, said: "Having worked with Bradley for the last three years I’ve seen how well he has progressed. He is able to manage his emotions and self-regulate really well in school. He shows great self-awareness and is hugely talented. He should be really proud of the progress he has made at school given the challenges he has faced.”
The FBB programme works with young people from areas of socio-economic disadvantage who are disengaged at school, helping them finish school with the skills and grades to make a successful transition into adulthood. FBB does this by providing long-term, intensive support, built around relationships and young people’s passions, in the classroom and beyond.
Jack concluded: “Coming out of the pandemic, schools have not been supported to adapt their provision to acknowledge what young people and teachers have gone through. From sector analysis and our own data it seems as though young people’s attitude towards attendance, teachers and school in general are worsening.”
FBB are calling for the creation of a National Training Programme (similar to Frontline, TeachFirst and Unlocked) for school pastoral staff to ensure every vulnerable young person has a trusted adult at secondary school. This programme will build on FBB’s existing training scheme which develops trauma-informed experts with core skills across counselling, special educational needs and teaching and learning.
