EDUCATION

Linett’s Story

Josephine’s Story

Realising the responsibilities of parenthood through Teens & Toddlers

Josephine was an aggressive and withdrawn Year 9 student in a pupil referral unit who was on probation and regularly cautioned by police for street fighting.

At the beginning of the project she was overwhelmingly shy, never speaking or engaging with her peers or the facilitators. Josephine wanted to have a baby, as a way out of a challenging home life and to meet her needs for being loved. Through her relationship with a toddler on the programme, she soon began to realise the vast responsibilities that come with parenthood, as well as engaging with her peers during classroom time. At the end of the programme Josephine reported that she wanted a career in childcare. Her pupil referral unit later confirmed that she had turned her life around: she was no longer in trouble with the police, had become a mentor to other students in the referral unit, teaching them what she had learned on the programme, and was currently in Sixth Form College studying for an NVQ in childcare.

To ensure anonymity the person in this story is not shown in the photograph.