I Can, I Will

Our goal is to increase the children's learning and improve their school results — giving them a stronger foundation for adult life. Our staff have been present at the children's home for nearly 10 years, and since we began, the children's school results have steadily and markedly improved.

We work with around 25 children at the children's home who have special needs and require extra support and adult presence. These children are not able to follow a standard school path. Some attend special-needs schools, others follow a simplified curriculum. Some require ongoing special assistance and may always need it. Others, without the same degree of difficulty, have with our help been able to develop physically, mentally, and socially, and have been able to begin or continue mainstream schooling.

Each child in the group has one hour with our staff every day. We've seen that the children express real joy and enthusiasm at having the focused attention of an adult who meets them as individuals — who takes the time to see them, listen, offer guidance, and talk things through. These conversations allow our staff to support each child's schoolwork according to their specific needs, while also giving them a space to share their thoughts and reflections on life.

We've seen that our approach has not only led to markedly better school results, but also a stronger sense of self-worth and individuality — something that can be difficult to develop when growing up in a group setting.

We believe that a strong sense of self, combined with education, gives children a better chance of thriving in the life that begins once they leave the children's home. We're glad to say that the oldest children — those we've followed over the past 10 years — have gone on to find employment after leaving.

Throughout our time at the children's home, we have worked closely with its staff. We have our own dedicated space within the building — known as "the living room" — where all of our activities take place. Our aim is to support the children's home staff and step in where resources fall short. Over time, we've also built a close collaboration with the school, and since autumn 2019 we've taken part in the school's team meetings around individual children.

We call our core program "I Can, I Will."