Our Theory of Change
Our Context
We work with young people constrained by circumstance.
ReachOut mentees are aged 9-14 (Year 5 - 9).
They attend school in an under-resourced area.
Teachers refer young people who fit two or more of our evidence based referral criteria.
Mentees choose to engage with ReachOut to realise, develop and be confident in, their huge potential.
“I believe ReachOut really helped my child with their social confidence and ambition. The sessions were aspirational and opened up the possibilities of educational and personal development.” Parent of a ReachOut Mentee
Our Activities
Weekly Collective Mentoring
Through working with our trained volunteer mentors and youth practitioners, young people take part in after school programmes which develops their socio-emotional skills.
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.
These are the skills of:
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.
Horizon Building Experiences
Interactions with employers and workplaces including:
Workplace Experience Visits across a variety of different industries.
Career talks from ReachOut's corporate parnters.
Our Mechanisms of Change
Curriculum
Explicit development of socio-emotional skills.
Wellbeing focus such as developing coping strategies and resilience.
Goal setting and reflection.
Experiential learning activities to build engagement, confidence, teamwork and growth.
Quality Environment
Adults demonstrate quality practices such as warmth, responsiveness, scaffolding and awareness.
We create an emotionally and physically safe environment so that young people can try new things, step out of their comfort zone, learn how to fail and practice emotional regulation.
Young people feel accepted, included and respected.
Improved school attendance and engagement.
Relationships
The group builds a sense of community, belonging, recognition and celebration.
Young people experience high quality, trusted adult and peer relationships.
Adults facilitate reflection, providing real-life context to tasks, or breaking down goals to achievable parts.
Interactions with employers and employees builds knowledge of options available and paths to success as well as confidence in their ability to get there.
Youth Voice and Leadership
Young people take on leadership roles within their projects.
Young people feel valued and listened to by adults and peers in the group.
Young people feel empowered to share their opinions.
Our Outcomes
Short /Medium Term
Improved socio-emotional skills.
Improved wellbeing.
Improved school attendance.
Improved confidence.
Long Term
Improved character.
Improved life satisfaction.
Empowered to make positive decisions for the future.
Our Aim
For every young person to have the socio-emotional skills and opportunities they need to thrive.
