Time Out
A programme of residential activity breaks for looked-after children in Southampton
is greatly reducing the strain on foster carers and boosting young people’s emotional
development and academic performance.
The Time Out scheme, devised and carried out by a local charity called Dreamwall,
offers youngsters aged 10 to 18 four residential breaks a year: a four-day trip
during the summer holidays and three weekends away at other times of the year.
The activities provided during residential breaks vary greatly, from informal team
games, sports, "wet and muddy" outdoor activities and cross-country walks,
to drama workshops, arts and crafts, and group cooking and discussions. Each trip
varies according to the interests of the group; young people tend to be grouped
together according to their abilities and passions.
Since Time Out was introduced in 2004, some 220 young people have participated in
the programme. In that time, Southampton City Council has seen a 95 per cent fall
in the number of foster carers leaving its service as a result of discontent or
burnout. The stability of foster placements has also greatly improved, pushing the
city up from near the bottom of the league table to near the top.
The scheme has therefore met Dreamwall’s – and Southampton’s – original twin aims
of improving the stability of foster care and reducing the growing demand from carers
for expensive "emergency respite" during the long summer break..
But it has also produced significant improvements in the personal, social and emotional
development of the young people involved and made them much keener to engage with
education. An analysis of GCSE results for the period 2005-8 has shown that Time
Out participants were consistently out-performing other looked-after children in
England.
Dreamwall attributes its success to consistency – of personnel and of approach.
The small group of staff work repeatedly with the same young people, enabling them
to develop a sense of ownership and progression.
"The assurance of four residential events a year, with the opportunity to progress
to a junior leader (under-18 volunteer) and remain assured of service until age
18, provides continuity and security to those in care, who are usually excluded
from such certainties," says Brett Rennolds, co-founder of Dreamwall.
"We do lots of simple things, such as cooking, but we do them in a methodical,
structured way," says Matt Pastellas, team leader at Dreamwall. "And there
is no division between project workers and young people: we sit and eat together,
do chores together and play together."
Dreamwall, whose work was described as "outstanding" in a recent Ofsted
area review, has just signed a further four-year contract with Southampton City
Council. It now also provides residential respite breaks for children in the neighbouring
authorities of Portsmouth and Hampshire.
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