After over 2 years of delivering Positive Transitions in East Lothian, we’re reflecting on some of the key milestones and stories from that time.
We’ve been delivering our Positive Transitions service in East Lothian since 2019, supporting children, young people and families in the transition from primary to high school. The service was developed almost 7 years ago in a consultation of over 700 young people who identified the transition to secondary school as one of their biggest challenges.
Now running across East Lothian and Edinburgh, it is comprised of four core projects providing support through one-to-one befriending, themed group sessions, Arts Therapies, to social work based support for families; our projects provide holistic support for children and young people, and their parents, carers and families. Through the dedication of our team, and collaborations with schools, other community and third sector organisations, East Lothian Council and NHS Lothian, we’re currently able to provide this support across 12 schools in the county.
One-to-one support: Tim’s good week
Since August, Youth & Family Worker Scott has been supporting Tim, a pupil in P5 at a primary school in East Lothian. Having been through difficult experiences throughout childhood, Tim was struggling with both his learning and behaviour at school. With lockdown causing Tim to only fall further behind, People Know How began one-to-one support at the start of this school year through regular sessions with Scott to improve Tim’s confidence and resilience.
With the support network of Scott, his parents and teachers in place, Tim has put his all into sessions. Together they’ve learnt about celebrating the successes, and learning from challenges, gaining the tools to cope with both the good and the bad days. Sessions have ranged from working on self-esteem, to playing sports to increase engagement.
“The other week he had a good week – the teachers were singing his praises; he couldn’t wait to tell me about it. It was probably one of my proudest moments so far with People Know How. He had a smile on his face, a bounce in his step. He’s got a lot of potential and it’s about him realising it, and me, the school and his parents helping him build a toolkit so when he is going through a difficult time, he knows what strategy to use.”
Scott and Tim are excited to continue their sessions. They’re continuing their plan to build confidence on good days and bad, slowly building up to preparing Tim for the transition to secondary school in a couple of years’ time.
Group support: Dear Lothian
In the summer of 2021, People Know How collaborated with the University of Edinburgh Museums Service, Historic Environment Scotland, Scran, Museums & Galleries Edinburgh and St Cecilia’s Hall, running a summer arts programme called Dear Lothian.
The programme invited young people from East Lothian and Edinburgh to explore their local area through the arts, strengthening their relationship with their hometown or home area and increasing confidence and resilience as they prepared for high school. Each session explored different art forms including soundscapes, photography, watercolour painting and oral histories.
Our first session took place at Edinburgh Castle, exploring archive photography and old postcards, followed by a session exploring music of the past and present through creating soundscapes of their neighbourhoods. The theme of sound continued in the next session, where participants learnt about oral histories, leading them to conduct interviews of their own. And in the final session, our young participants took inspiration from artists on exhibit at the City Art Centre and created watercolours of their local areas. We rounded off the programme by hosting an exhibition of the art and sound they produced aboard our new canal boat All Aboard, owned in partnership with Polwarth Church.
The majority of young people who participated in the programme told us that they felt happy because of Dear Lothian, with the exhibition on the canal boat topping the charts as the most popular activity. They also expressed an interest in engaging further with local arts and history, including visiting museums and historic sites.
Parents also had a positive reaction to the programme, providing feedback that Dear Lothian supported their children to improve confidence and wellbeing, develop skills for secondary school, and have a fun summer!
"Joanna has really enjoyed doing the sessions during the summer. It's been great; she has been able to catch-up with friends, learn new skills and also become more familiar with using public transport. Would highly recommend this programme to other parents in the future who have children in need of a bit extra support. Thank you so much to everyone involved."
Looking to 2022
The above are just some of the stories from the last two years of supporting East Lothian communities. We can’t wait to continue this work in 2022.
If you’re an organisation or individual interested in any of our Positive Transitions projects in East Lothian, take a look at our service page below.