Youth Inclusion
Central to Oasis’ ethos is the belief in inclusion. We believe that no one should be left on the outside, particularly those most vulnerable in our society.
It sounds a bit of a cliché to say that young people are the future, but we believe it’s true. We also believe that it should be a bright future, which is why Oasis Youth Inclusion is working in schools in the UK with children who are most at risk of being excluded from school. Children like John.
John's Story
Last year, John was referred to Oasis Youth Inclusion to receive transition mentoring because he often lost his temper and got into fights easily.
Initially, John found these small group times very difficult and would regularly show verbal and physical violence. Two weeks before the end of the summer term he came into the session and was extremely angry about being there, his behaviour rapidly deteriorated and the rest of the group could no longer focus on the session. After many attempts from our Oasis worker to calm him down, his teacher removed him from the group and took him back to class.
Our Inclusion worker was able to speak with John's teacher who explained about his troubled home life, and how she had been trying to refer him for further help for some time.
The breakthrough came at the next session where our Oasis worker presented John with his certificate for completing the course and explained how proud she was of him for coming back every week, even though he didn't always seem to want to.
This simple act of saying "Well done" meant John's face suddenly softened and he smiled and said 'Thanks Miss!' For the rest of the session he sat and played games with the Oasis worker and came across as a completely different child - a very calm and friendly child. Enthusiastic, and wanting to get involved in summer activities. On his evaluation form for the summer term he mentioned how he had learnt to be a nicer person, and had really enjoyed the time he had been in the group.
John did continue to receive transition support at secondary school on a one-to-one basis, and with the transition support worker being able to liaise with school staff he received the right support in school, and even though he still loses his temper sometimes he has made excellent progress and really tries to manage his anger with the techniques talked about during transition support sessions.