LifeSkills: Building Confidence, Skills and Positive Futures

LifeSkills is about more than learning practical skills — it’s about confidence, personal growth and preparing young people for the future. This half term has been a vibrant and productive period across Our Future LifeSkills, marked by meaningful progress, strong engagement and several key programme successes.

A Positive Half Term Across LifeSkills

One of the standout achievements this half term was the successful completion of our six-week Youth Justice Programme. Throughout the programme, participants demonstrated commitment and maturity, developing a deeper understanding of:

• Positive decision-making

• Personal responsibility

• Future planning and goal-setting
  

The programme provided young people with space to reflect, grow and take ownership of their next steps, laying important foundations for long-term progress.

Celebrating Engagement and Commitment

We were also proud to celebrate the hard work and dedication of several mentees who showed exceptional engagement across LifeSkills and mentoring sessions.

To recognise their efforts, young people took part in two well-deserved cinema trips, alongside continued participation in the Tutoring Hub. These experiences were more than a reward, they offered valuable opportunities to:

• Practise social skills in real-world settings

• Build confidence outside structured sessions

• Strengthen positive peer relationships
  

These shared experiences play a vital role in supporting wellbeing and reinforcing positive engagement.

Investing in Mentors and Quality Support

This half term also marked an important milestone for our mentoring team. Several mentors successfully completed additional mentoring training, receiving certificates in recognition of their professional development.

By investing in our mentors, we strengthen the quality, consistency and impact of the support we provide. Their growth directly enhances the LifeSkills experience for the young people we work with.

Open Awards Success 🎉

The LifeSkills Mentoring Programme is proud to share a significant achievement this month.

Four of our mentees have successfully completed their Open Awards certification requirements.This marks an important milestone, recognising their commitment, progress and personal development.

Achieving an Open Awards certificate provides young people with:

• Formal recognition of their learning

• Increased confidence and self-belief

• A positive stepping stone toward future opportunities
  

We look forward to supporting more mentees to achieve this milestone in the coming term.

New Term Focus: “New Year, New Me”

As we move into the new term, LifeSkills will be working under the theme “New Year, New Me”, encouraging young people to:

• Set personal goals

• Try new experiences

• Build confidence and independence

• Make positive changes at their own pace
  

A key focus will be supporting more mentees to work towards achieving their LifeSkills Open Awards certificate, helping them gain recognition for their progress and commitment.

Our aim is to help every young person start the year feeling motivated, supported and ready to move forward.

Supporting Young People to Thrive

This half term has highlighted the dedication, resilience and enthusiasm of both our mentees and mentors. Through structured programmes, mentoring, enrichment activities and celebration of success, LifeSkills continues to support young people to develop the skills and confidence they need for the future.

We look forward to building on this momentum in the months ahead.