Media

Around 35 young teenagers with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) – many of whom will have stopped attending school due to a lack of provision for their needs – will benefit from one-to-one and group support thanks to a grant to the Teenvine Plus Next Steps project, delivered by local charity Grapevine.

The £60,000 grant will fund the Next Steps focuses its support around each teenager’s talents and skills, as opposed to their needs, examining their EHC plan (education, health and care) if they have one and working with them to identify their own ideas and solutions to the barriers they are facing.

Local authority statistics show 48 per cent of children not in school in Coventry have special educational needs and 84 per cent live in the city’s most deprived neighbourhoods.

Many have not set foot in the classroom for three months or more and in some cases, have not regularly attended school for up to two or three years – moving through the education system from school to alternative provision to becoming increasingly isolated at home.

Through person-centred plans, building skills and networks, peer support, advocacy and wider support for the whole family where needed, the 12-month Next Steps programme works with their dreams and aspirations, advocating for solutions to returning to formal learning, creating opportunities to enjoy normal teenage life and nurturing their sense of identity and ability to self-advocate.