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Our Skills for Life programmes, Zippy’s Friends, Apple’s Friends, Passport and SPARK Resilience support the mental health and wellbeing of vulnerable children through targeted interventions for small groups

Supporting the mental health and wellbeing of vulnerable children

The No Child Left Behind report of 2020 defines vulnerable children ‘as any child at greater risk of experiencing physical or emotional harm and/or experiencing poor outcomes because of one or more factors in their lives’. These children can come from a wide range of backgrounds and contexts and will have a vast range of past experiences, which may themselves have a significant impact on the child or young person’s social and emotional development.

Research into vulnerable children and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) shows that to ensure children receive the best start in life they must spend time in environments that nurture and protect them from risk. For vulnerable children, school is often a protective factor, providing stability and people who care about them and their wellbeing. 

The Skills for Life programmes can help vulnerable children to improve their coping skills, social skills, emotional literacy and build their resilience when they take part in our programmes in a whole class setting or in a targeted small group intervention.

Organisations are using our programmes and resources to support:

  • Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
  • Children with EHCPs in mainstream settings
  • Children attending alternative provisions (including PRUs)
  • Children at risk of emotionally based school avoidance
  • Small group and nurture group interventions
  • Irish School Completion Programmes
  • Young Carers
  • Looked after Children
  • Children living in poverty
  • Refugees and displaced children
  • Children who have been excluded or are at risk of exclusion
  • Children who have experienced trauma

If you are interested in supporting vulnerable children using the Skills for Life programmes please contact Liz Bowles to discuss how we can support your work.

I think we can all help each other and it is OK to get help. Not everyone has the answers

Child in foster care, Croydon