“She wouldn’t engage with us, she didn’t trust us, she would say everything was a challenge and be really negative. She didn’t see the point of school,” Karen continues.
“Attendance was an issue, being in lessons was an issue and she was very dysregulated. She didn’t have any ambition. She knew what she liked and what she didn’t like but she didn’t know how that could be expressed in a meaningful way to help her move forward.”
“Preventing students becoming NEET is a big leadership focus. For us, students falling into the NEET category means that we’ve not been successful. We’ve found that one of the strongest, most effective tools we have to tackle young people becoming NEET is a really strong careers programme, using the Gatsby Benchmarks. It’s essential to giving our young people ambition, to giving them a sense of purpose, but also to giving them a focus on where they want to go to next.”
“I used to despise school,” Kelsey tells us. “My attitude wasn’t good. I was very loud and a bit rude to some teachers. I sort of dreaded each day having to come in and do all different types of lessons with different teachers. I used to try to get my mum to let me stay at home, act sick – basically try to get out of going to school any way I could. I just never really wanted to go.”
“Something had to change if we were to engage Kelsey with school,” Karen continues. “The Gatsby Benchmarks and our careers education programme provided an answer.”
“I’ve always loved animals, ever since I was little, especially horses. The teachers at school knew I was really into animals too and they were able to use that to help me get a bit of perspective,” Kelsey explains.
A career skills intervention with ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, when Kelsey was in Year 9, which was tailored to her needs and challenges, was the starting point for change. It focused on something she was interested in, and it became aspirational, showing her all the roles on offer. She could see what would be required of her and it gave her belief that she could fit into that sort of role.
The programme, aimed at students who are disengaged from education and with high risk of NEET, took Kelsey out of the classroom environment she struggled with one a day a week, for six weeks. She shadowed different job roles, looked at how the zoo environment is maintained, learnt their approach to marketing and gained an understanding of conservation.
“Once a week, I’d be out of school doing and learning different things – not feeling stuck in the same lessons with the same teachers each day,” says Kelsey. “That helped me a lot. It got me thinking about what I wanted to do and my future. It gave me experience of what work is like. It helped me get a plan for my future.”
“After that, the careers guidance support from my school really helped me see a range of different jobs that you could do in animal care and how going to school, behaving at school, was how I could get there. It gave me a bigger view of what I could possibly do, a bigger type of plan than I would ever have had.”
“That got me to come to school – actually kind of excited to come in – and it made my behaviour a lot better. I got my behaviour points down, got a better relationship with some teachers. And I’ve made a few good friends that I can trust. I’ve also developed skills you need at work like teamwork skills.”
“The zoo intervention brought the point of education to life for Kelsey,” explains Karen. She was challenged and she excelled. Through our wider careers programme, we were able to nurture what it sparked in her, plotting out an achievable pathway to get her into what she’s now confident would be a good career for her. She’s focused on getting the GCSEs she needs to go to a local college which she then hopes will take her on to an apprenticeship back at the zoo.”
“Our Gatsby Benchmarks-led careers programme has generated a profound change in Kelsey. Before, you wouldn’t have had conversations about her future. She would have told you that she wasn’t bothered. Now, she’s attending school and in lessons. She’s following the expectations of the school and, most importantly, she’s got an aspiration and ambition. She knows where she wants to go when she finishes Year 11 and what kind of career path she wants to follow. She’s got personal links in the right field and experience of that kind of workplace she can draw on.”
“Now, I’m very excited to get a good job – and a job that I enjoy,” Kelsey says. “I’m hoping to go to college after I finish school to study animal care. Hopefully I can get the grades and study more then get a zoological, conservationist or equine-type job.”