Epic Case Studies Contents

1. Epic Youth: Targeted Girls Group ­ ‘Girls in Action’ 2. Epic Sport: Girls’ Football Programme 3. Epic Ambition: Epic Learning Independent School TSM

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1. Epic Youth: Targeted Girls Group ­ ‘Girls in Action’ Project Description The group commenced in November 2015 and takes place every Tuesday after school. The group is aimed at young females aged 13 ­ 19 years and we have a core group of 10 young women who attend most weeks but we could have up to 12 young women in a session. We have worked closely with the group to identify a range of activities that they would like to get involved in and from this we have developed a varied programme of activities, workshops and discussions for them to take part in, including workshops around healthy relationships, cyber safety, activities including arts and crafts, health and beauty and street dance and a range of off­site activities and trips. In addition to this we also ran a session with the girls at the outset whereby they came up with their own rules and discussed how they would respect both staff and other young girls attending the session and of course the centre and equipment. By doing this it ensured that the group took ownership and responsibility for the boundaries that they co­produced. A particularly popular activity has been the healthy living sessions which take place every other week whereby we split the groups into two and give both groups a budget of £10. The group's first decide what it was they want to cook before making their way to the local supermarket to buy the ingredients ensuring they remain within budget. They then return to the centre where they prepare their meal ready to be sampled by the allocated judge. The early help outcome that this session comes under is Challenging Behaviour which we aim to achieve by creating a safe, welcoming and bounded environment where the girls are comfortable discussing the issues affecting them. The girls are encouraged to express their attitudes and beliefs on a range of topics that are then debated, discussed and when necessary challenged by both the staff and also their peers. Within this environment other outcomes they achieve are, the group is happier, healthier with improved well being and are able to makes positive choices both individually and collectively. As a group they have been involved in different events across Epic e.g International Women's Day, Art Explosion and will continue to get involved. Other achievements they are very proud of is receiving £500 from the Youth Grant fund which will go towards the weekend residential that will take place in May 2016. Young Person SF is a 17 year old female from RBKC who has been attending Chelsea Centre’s open access sessions since 2011. Over the years we have watched SF progress and develop from a troubled young teen experiencing a range of issues including low self esteem, low aspirations, and frequent contact with the police as a result of her anti­social behaviour in the local community, to a committed hardworking, young woman who is hopeful and excited about her future.

Epic ELM C.I.C is a limited company registered in England and Wales with registered number 8488968 whose registered office is at First Floor, 36C Oxford Gardens, London, W10 5UQ

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Through the help and support of her youth workers, who were also a constant source of challenge about her attitudes and behaviour and the negative impact they were having on her as an individual and the wider community, SF began to reflect on her behavior and eventually decided she wanted help to change the path in which her life was heading. SF slowly started distancing herself from the group of friends she was keeping at the time and instead started to engage herself in various activities and workshops within the youth club, resulting in her creating a CV with the help of staff, something she had no interest in doing prior to distancing herself from her peers. In order to support this ongoing transformation SF was asked if she would like to help out with the Girls Group as volunteer peer leader which she agreed to. SF has been volunteering every week since ‘Girls in Action’ inception using her passion for dance and performance to facilitate sessions for the younger girls and they have been a big hit. SF has grown from strength to strength in her role as a peer leader. SF has recently gained meaningful employment and is very excited and proud of this achievement. She told the Youth workers that during her job interview she spoke about her volunteering role and stated, when asked about her availability, that she was available every day except Tuesday as this is when she volunteers for her ‘Girls in Action’ group and that she did not want to give up this commitment.

2. Epic Sport: Girls’ Football Programme Project Description

Epic ELM C.I.C is a limited company registered in England and Wales with registered number 8488968 whose registered office is at First Floor, 36C Oxford Gardens, London, W10 5UQ

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According to the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation only 12% of girls by the age of 14 are getting enough physical activity a week compared to boys, and by the time they leave school 23% of girls say their experience within PE has put them off of physical activity for life. With so many girls dropping out of sport nationally and a lack of sport for girls within RBKC, Epic Sport started the development of a girls’ football programme in 2014, which would engage and increase their perceptions and participation in physical activity. The girls’ football programme now consists of three weekly training sessions which run during term times. The programme caters for girls aged 9­16 and engages over 40 girls across the whole programme. The initial aim of the programme was to increase participation levels in sport and increase technical, physical, psychological and social capabilities. On the programme girls learn the principles of play, refine technique, learn new skills and input tactical strategies within game play. From the huge success of the programme we have been able to form a partnership with Westway Sports Centre football department to pilot a 9­a­side girls under 14’s football team that currently play in the Capital Girls’ Football League, which subsequently is the largest league for girls in the country and is run by the FA. Due to the demand and success of the under 14’s team we will be adding an under 13’s girls’ team for next season. The League provides the ideal environment to learn and to input practice into game situations, the girls face various other teams from across the whole of london and are subjected to situations where coping and resilience skills are called upon. The competitive aspect of this programme also engages young girls in positive activities at weekends. Some of the girls have progressed at such a fast rate with their footballing ability, that we have had numerous professional clubs offer trials to 5 of the girls, most notably teams like Chelsea FC, Arsenal FC and QPR FC. Epic Sport has endeavored to build relationships with these clubs to help with the player referral process giving players a better chance of fulfilling their potential after they leave Epic services. Once players reach 16 years of age, they are given the opportunity to gain their FA Level one coaching qualification in football through Epic Sports Coaching Bursary Scheme, which could lead them to volunteering or gaining employment in the future within sport. Young Person DL is 13 years old from the south of the borough (SW3) and attends Chelsea Academy School. Prior to her engagement in this programme, DL was not regularly participating in sport or physical activity outside of school, and was socialising with peer groups that demonstrated risky and antisocial behaviour. The football programme has been a great outlet for her and the other girls that attend the session. This has been evident due to the attitude change towards sport and the learning process as well as her ability to cope and perform under pressure within a competitive environment. Since joining the girls football project she has become a very committed young footballer and athlete, with a great desire to train and improve her performance. She currently plays for an under 14’s girls team which compete in one of the largest leagues in the country and also has competed at the London youth games. The London youth games is Europe's largest sporting competition for young people, with all of London’s 33 boroughs competing in over 20 different

Epic ELM C.I.C is a limited company registered in England and Wales with registered number 8488968 whose registered office is at First Floor, 36C Oxford Gardens, London, W10 5UQ

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sports. DL has demonstrated enormous potential with her footballing ability and has been on trial at a premier league teams girls development centre, currently training at the first team training ground. DL is currently the league's top goalscorer with 21 goals in 13 games and her team currently sit top of their division. She has been attending football sessions for the past three years and has rapidly progressed to being one of the best female players in her borough. DL attends at least five training sessions a week and plays competitive league matches on the weekends. These training sessions are highly beneficial and essential if she were to fulfill her true footballing potential. DL is a great leader on and off the pitch and has a fantastic relationship with the rest of her teammates; she encourages, inspires and leads by example with her committed performances on the pitch and dedication off it. DL has the potential to go all the way within women's professional football and could even represent England at youth level and may even possibly at senior level, that is how great her potential is in my opinion. I must stress that this is of course only possible if she keeps up with her dedicated footballing schedule of training. DL is currently in an environment that enables her to do what she loves whilst learning and constantly being challenged to excel what's more it is locally accessible to her. Football has helped her become more sociable amongst her peers and has dramatically boosted her self confidence and self esteem, it has also lead her to become a well respected role model for others at the sessions she attends and at her school. DL is a joy to coach as she has the physical attributes and personality of a top footballer. We look forward to helping DL fulfil her footballing potential. Quotes: DL: “Since joining the programme I have learned a lot and have really enjoyed playing in matches. I am a lot more confident in PE and school games and I get to play and make new friends from other schools”. DL’s Parent: “Thanks to the programme that Epic run, my daughter is able to train numerous days a week, and has done so with Remi and George for the last 3 years. The programme that George and Remi run means that she gets all the training needed to progress and get herself to a really high level of tactic and fitness in order to help her possibly achieve her dream of becoming a professional footballer. She also learns a lot of social skills and how to conduct herself mentally, physically and by means of eating healthily. The facilities and the way the training is scheduled at Westway, St Luke's and Pen are great and very well situated which means I know my daughter is always safe and looked after by the coaches. I am so impressed at how passionate my daughter is of the sport and at the level of progression she has had due to the time and dedication that the coaches have put in as well as she has into

Epic ELM C.I.C is a limited company registered in England and Wales with registered number 8488968 whose registered office is at First Floor, 36C Oxford Gardens, London, W10 5UQ

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all of these training sessions”.

3. Epic Ambition: Epic Learning Independent School TSM Project Description Epic Learning is an inclusive, alternative education provision, with independent school status, for Year 10 ­ 13 students who would not thrive in a mainstream setting. The varied curriculum comprises academic and personal development qualifications. We aim to enable students to re­learn how to learn, overcome barriers to achievement and progression and to become an

Epic ELM C.I.C is a limited company registered in England and Wales with registered number 8488968 whose registered office is at First Floor, 36C Oxford Gardens, London, W10 5UQ

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active member of the community. Our unique selling point is our flexible, holistic approach to learning and our local knowledge. Young Person TSM had been on Epic Learning’s radar for a while prior to her enrolment. Her mother had made a visit to Epic Learning at Golborne Centre and was pleasantly surprised with the setup. She had visited with TSM’s social worker and informed us that she would return to her school and inform them of her decision to start at Epic as soon as possible. Unfortunately, Chelsea Academy blocked her move. There was then an extended period with TSM out of education before her school finally acquiesced and approved the move. She finally enrolled in January 2016 as a year 11 student. She is a young carer from Chelsea who had been out of school for over a year as a result of bullying and serious concerns over self­harm. The referral being the result of lengthy multi­agency working with Early Help and TBAP. The main issues that we felt needed to be managed were:

Making sure that there were no recurring issues of being victimised in any way; Positive engagement with staff; Positive engagement with other pupils; Motivation to attend and engage in all lessons regardless of her extended period out of

education; Reduced incidents of withdrawal as a result of anxiety over her academic future.

Over the course of this year, we have found that her anxieties are not all linked with her academic pursuits. On one occasion in a lesson, TSM was apparently engaged with her work but then for no ‘obvious’ reason, began crying uncontrollably and burst out of the classroom towards the toilets. We discovered that while she was in the class, she noticed that there was animal hair on her leggings. Recently, she had been looking after a friend’s pet and it had died. The hair on her leggings had been an unwelcome reminder which emotionally, she was not prepared to manage. There have been a declining number of strong mood swings or motivational ‘lulls’ since January. TSM has integrated very well into our small, nurturing environment and has embraced all aspects of provision. She is building relationships and friendships with other students and really enjoys her Arts Award lessons, where she finds she can express her creative ambitions. TSM has participated in the annual perseverance residential of which she received a reward for Inspirational participant of the week. She has attended the IWD Careers event and submitted work to the Art Explosion competition. Although TSM’s piece did not receive a special mention, it was by far the most original piece submitted from an Epic Learning student. The team were extremely proud when we saw her work framed for the Arts Explosion competition. Despite missing enormous amounts of statutory education, TSM is on track to achieve her GCSEs at level 2 as well as Functional Skills in mathematics and English and has applied for post­16 study.

Epic ELM C.I.C is a limited company registered in England and Wales with registered number 8488968 whose registered office is at First Floor, 36C Oxford Gardens, London, W10 5UQ

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Epic ELM C.I.C is a limited company registered in England and Wales with registered number 8488968 whose registered office is at First Floor, 36C Oxford Gardens, London, W10 5UQ

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