Blog
How are we adapting in light of Covid-19? TLG Education Centres
19th May 2020
“TLG has taught me a lot. I never really thought about those children in my class. I didn't think about the fact that some of those kids didn't know where their next meal was coming from, that some of them were faced with abuse and neglect when they went home. I didn’t really think about their broken families, their disadvantaged upbringings, their poverty or their SENDs. I didn’t realise what it meant for them. I didn’t realise that it wasn’t fair.” – Rachael, TLG Intern 2020
It isn’t fair.
It isn’t fair that disadvantaged and excluded young people at crisis point in education are now even more at risk due to the Covid-19 crisis.
Issues such as family breakdown, bereavement, drug and alcohol abuse, poverty, lack of parental support, amongst other distressing circumstances, are exacerbated when families are restricted to the 4 walls of their home.
Our education centres offer a lifeline for young people, no matter what their circumstances. They are a safe and nurturing environment to help individuals grow in confidence, raise their aspirations and reach their full potential. We are passionate about seeing all young people who are taught at our centres return to mainstream education or progress on to employment with training.
So how are TLG Education Centres adapting to the pandemic?
Our education teams have worked exceptionally hard the last few months to implement changes in order to continue providing holistic support to our students, in keeping with government guidelines.
In the current climate, whilst TLG Education Centres look different to how they did 2 months ago, our education staff are more determined than ever to continue supporting pupils.
TLG Education Centres are now offering a hybrid service, providing the best online or face-to-face support they can, as restrictions or circumstances allow. Centres are now open (to varying degrees), with some schools seeing over half of their pupils in-centre in a socially distanced classroom environment. To facilitate the needs of vulnerable pupils, and to offer flexibility, some centres have adopted morning and afternoon sessions so that they can adhere to social distancing safety measures. This ensures that all pupils are educated and supported. Other pupils continue to stay at home and receive teaching from TLG’s online platform. This platform has been praised by referrers for its holistic nature (the balance of academic and pastoral support that meets social, emotional and mental health needs). Teachers also continue to support pupils on a 1:1 basis through video calls and have been supporting families with increased phone and email contact, food vouchers and Boxes of Hope.
How are things looking on the ground? Gav, our Headteacher at TLG Wakefield, shares his typical Wednesday morning as he makes he way through his rounds of visiting students that can’t come into school. Check it out:
What an encouragement in the midst of such darkness! From supporting a family facing the prospect of Universal Credit, to delivering TLG beans, Gav, like the rest of our Education staff, is doing all that he can to continue to support young people and their families in this crisis.
Click here to support the work of our frontline heroes up and down the country.
