The social and educational landscape for young people is constantly changing. Because of this, there are questions that youth-focused charities like ReachOut need to ask ourselves. Why do we do what we do? Who do we do it for? How do we do it?
These are questions that this strategy seeks to answer. Alongside our young people, their parents and carers, as well as teachers and other stakeholders, we’ve developed this strategy to guide us through the next four years.
Our new strategic direction has been underpinned by the development of a new evidence-based framework, focused on the development of young people’s socio-emotional skills, alongside the Centre for Youth Impact. Socio-emotional skills development is a widely championed framework for having a positive, long-term impact on young people. With this strategy, it will run through our curriculum, all of our wider-activities and our vision for the future.
We want to ensure that ReachOut is a thriving and dynamic organisation, well placed to develop and deliver the best possible services for the young people who need us the most, recognising the tough economic climate the third sector is facing currently. This new strategy is our first step in doing that.
“ReachOut opened everything up a little more for me.”
ReachOut Mentee
ReachOut is a strategic partner for schools. Through delivering after-school youth development programmes, we build the socio-emotional skills that transform outcomes for 9–14-year-olds.
We exist because not all children have the opportunity to just ‘pick-up’ socio emotional skills. The 9-14 age bracket is an especially crucial juncture in childhood development, so we focus our efforts on helping children in this range.
Within this bracket, we further focus our efforts on helping young people constrained by circumstance. Our programme delivery is informed by an evidence-based curriculum and delivered through collective mentoring with trained practitioners and volunteer mentors.
Through our weekly sessions, the young people that take part work with the peers, mentors and our youth practitioners. They develop their skills through conversations, group activities, reflection and goal setting, as well as horizon building work experience visits and career talks.
Every young person has the opportunity to succeed.
We support young people to build the confidence and skills they need to suceed.
young people
different ethnic backgrounds.
hours of mentoring.
volunteer mentors
youth practitioners
of young people were eligible for free school meals.
of the schools we work in were in the UK's 30% most deprived communities.
of teachers saw an increase in students' confidence.
of young people reported greater self-confidence
of teachers saw improvement in students' behavior.
of ReachOut mentees improved their school attendance.
of teachers saw improvement in student's attitude to learning.
“The main impact has been seeing their confidence grow within themselves. They’ve blossomed as young adults.”
Teacher at a ReachOut Partner School
Socio-emotional skills are foundational skills for young people. Research has shown that the development of these skills at a young age, when the brain is in a key stage of its development, is one of the strongest indicators of a young person’s success at school and happiness in life.
It’s often assumed that every young person has the same opportunities to develop these skills, and that’s not true. Just like with maths or English, socio-emotional skills can be influenced by access to a range of formal and informal learning opportunities. We work with young people constrained by circumstance to make sure they receive these opportunities.
Responsibility – reliably meeting commitments and fulfilling obligations.
Empathy – relating to others with compassion, acceptance and understanding.
Problem Solving – planning, strategising and implementing complex tasks including critical thinking, goal setting and responsible decision making.
Initiative – the ability to take action, sustain motivation and persevere through challenges.
Teamwork – leadership, and the ability to collaborate, communicate and coordinate with others.
Emotion Management – being aware of, naming, understanding and constructively handling positive and negative emotions.
“For me and my friends who took part in ReachOut, it helped to level the playing field, providing us with the same opportunities as young people from more well-off backgrounds.”
Boma, ReachOut Alumnus
Our work helps schools meet and evidence various sections of Ofsted’s Inspection Framework.
This section of Ofsted’s framework talks about the need to provide an ambitious curriculum for all learners supporting them with the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life.
ReachOut is a rich addition to the curriculum. We work specifically with young people eligible for pupil premium or who have experienced one or more Adverse Childhood Experiences, helping them access opportunities to develop their socio-emotional skills that, otherwise, they may not have access to.
This section of the framework looks at young people’s attitude to education, their resilience, relationship building, respect, behavior and attendance.
Research has shown a strong links between the development of socio-emotional skills and a young person’s resilience, their relationships with their peers, teachers and other adults.
Across our 2023/24 partner schools, 80% of teachers reported an improvement in mentees’ attitude to learning, which can have a direct impact on attendance and punctuality.
This section looks for the curriculum to extend beyond the academic and provide for learner’s broader development, improving their confidence and independence and preparing them for what’s next.
Through our evidence-based curriculum, we focus on giving learners a broad range of experiences that help unlock their potential.
Through working with their peers, mentors and our youth practitioners, mentees develop their confidence, resilience and key socio-emotional skills.
Career talks and workplace visits help expand our mentees ideas about their futures.
This section of the frameworks asks leaders to have an ambitious vision for providing inclusive education, championing safeguarding and managing workloads.
Working with ReachOut is a clear demonstration of a school’s ambition to develop student’s socio-emotional skills.
We recognise the pressures faced by teachers and school staff so we work with you to make sure that a ReachOut project is not an increase in workload.
Safeguarding is our top priority – all staff and volunteers undergo strict and ongoing safeguarding training, and our procedures are regularly reviewed and updated.
Our work helps schools meet a number of the Gatsby Benchmarks – evidencing career support for students.
At ReachOut, we work with young people who may not have the same opportunities as their peers. Mentee referral information helps our staff tailor sessions to meet individual pupil’s needs. We also work with mentees on personalised goal setting and reflection activities.
ReachOut’s mentors come from a diverse range of industries and backgrounds and can talk to their mentees about how the work they’re doing at school relates to building important skills for future careers. Through career talks and workplace visits, mentees are encouraged to see the direct benefits of education to their future career aspirations.
At ReachOut, we provide our mentees with several touchpoints with employers. We have visiting speakers who talk about their career paths and take questions from the young people.
“Before I came to ReachOut, I wasn’t very confident, but now I can see the bright side of myself and I know I can actually be confident! This makes me feel amazing.”
Year 6 Mentee
“They have become much more confident communicating with other students and with adults. They are also able to advocate for themselves much more than previously.”
Teacher at ReachOut Partner School
Our team is dedicated to creating a high performing, solution focused workplace whereby integrity, accountability, and authenticity guide us. By staying committed to our goals, supporting one another, and driving ambitious results, we safeguard our resources and achieve lasting impact for our organisation and the young people and communities we serve
Acting with honesty and strong moral principles in all actions, ensuring transparency and trust in everything we do.
Taking ownership of our actions and responsibilities and holding ourselves and others accountable for meeting commitments and delivering results.
Being genuine and true to ourselves, fostering open and honest communication and creating a culture of trust
Demonstrating dedication and focus, consistently delivering on tasks and goals, while actively contributing to the success of the team.
Showing empathy and care towards colleagues, valuing their wellbeing and offering support during challenges.
Maintaining a positive approach to challenges, concentrating on finding practical and effective solutions rather than dwelling on problems.
Striving for continuous growth and improvement, setting and pursuing high goals and pushing the team and organisation towards success.
“For me and my friends who took part in ReachOut, it helped to level the playing field, providing us with the same opportunities as young people from more well-off backgrounds.”
Boma, ReachOut Alumnus
“At first, I was really hesitant to take on the Project Leader role, despite having mentored with ReachOut. However, with the support of the team I’ve really developed my skills. For example, at the Mentee Graduation, I stood up in front of 200 people and presented an award which is something I would never ever have been able to have done before, and isn’t an opportunity I could gain in my other situations.”
Amy McCutcheon, Project Leader at ReachOut Academy, Dean Trust Ardwick, Manchester.
“Being able to spend the summer working at Rede Partners, was an amazing experience. Whether it was working in HR or Finance, I learned so much about the world of private equity, made great connections with fantastic people and I got to learn first-hand what it would be like to work there! I really believe that I can go onto build the career I want now I’ve been a part for a workplace for real”
Victor Adekunle, 18 years old, ReachOut Ambassador, London
“When I first my mentee, she was very reluctant to participate in the sessions. Now, I see a completely different person! Her confidence has grown and she is happy to join in! She still has some self-doubt when it comes to academic work, but that’s what I hope to help her overcome, because she is a very bright person!
Through mentoring, I’ve learnt I’m a lot more patient than I realised. There will be days where she refuses to participate and those are the days that I really see the importance of the character strengths, for both the mentees and the mentors. It also makes it easier for the mentee to understand the character strengths, when I use them myself”
Myrtle, ReachOut Club mentor at Tufnell Primary School, London
“There are more distractions than ever outside of school, and the commitment of our students to attend ReachOut sessions is testament to the value they place on the relationships they foster there, and the challenge and enjoyment they provide.
ReachOut’s focus on communication skills and character development has become an important aspect of our provision of support for these students. The opportunity to relate to a positive role- model other than their usual teachers is key to the programme’s impact, and the evidence of this has been seen in the students’ attendance, resilience and to their overall progress across all the subjects in the school.”
Thomas Janvrin, Assistant Vice Principal at the Petchey Academy London
