The Real Deal training programme - Live life b4 you give life

Anger Management Programme for Centres

An anger management programme that is now available to Youthreach and Senior Traveller Training and Community Training centres is called the Cool Anger Management (CAM) programme and was devised by Brian Lennon, a psychologist and guidance counsellor who works for Co Louth VEC.  Brian describes the programme as a series of activities to help teenagers deal with strong emotions.

The programme has three main goals: 1) to help teenagers become more aware of their anger; 2) to help them deal more effectively with it; and 3) to provide teaching staff with practical guidelines.  The materials in the programme can be used in a number of different ways.  They can be targeted at young people with identified anger problems, either through group work or in one-to-one sessions, and they can also be used in a more general way with groups as an SPHE programme dealing with mental well-being.
 
The approach used in this programme has the advantage of being highly learner-centred and flexible, and it fits well with the WebWheel model.  It is recommended to any centre that wishes to address the issue of anger (and other strong emotions) in a systematic way. 
 
Your VEC has a budget for staff training and you may be able to draw on this to obtain the CAM programme.  While Brian is happy to make his programme available at a very low cost, he wants it first to be formally introduced to staff in the centre through a one-day training session by a facilitator that has been trained in it by him.  The list of these facilitators, along with their contact details, can be obtained from Mary Gordon - Mary_Gordon@neps.gov.ie. 

Information for Young Parents in Education

The new edition of Information for Young Parents in Education is now available thanks to a grant received from the Crisis Pregnancy Agency.

This new edition has been expanded on the previous one and there is now a separate section on Financial Supports for Higher Education. Other contents include a list of Youth Cafés, Young Parents Programmes, General Financial Supports, Back to Education / Training, Childcare and a list of useful organisations. For pregnant students attention is also drawn to the Home Tuition Scheme and Exams during Labour.

With the approaching school year this publication will be useful to young parents who are considering entering or re-entering education. The publication aims to assist young parents to be the best providers they can be for their families by increasing their employment possibilities.

The booklet is available free of charge from Treoir, info@treoir.ie, LoCall: 1890 252 084 or 01-6700 120. It can also be downloaded from the publications section of Treoir’s website: www.treoir.ie.

Young people and suicide in Ireland

According to the Irish Health Poverty Index published in August 2008 by the Institute of Public Health in Ireland, the Republic of Ireland experienced one of the fastest rising suicide rates in the world during the 1980s and 1990s, with the overall suicide rate doubling during that period. The level of death by suicide here remains high, and particularly among young people in the age range 15 – 24 years. However, research from Australia and elsewhere suggests that the mentoring approach used in the WebWheel model can provide the kind of support that appears to be effective in reducing youth suicide. See the item in Level B.

Launch of WebWheel Website

The Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science, Mr. Séan Haughey T.D., launched the new WebWheel support website for the Youthreach, Senior Traveller Training and Community Training Centre programmes in Dublin on 26 November 2007. 

The Minister introduced the website as a useful resource to management and staff working in the programmes and to practitioners and agencies that provide services to centres.   He said that it contained a wide range of materials relating to the provision of supports for learners, including guidelines on mentoring, advocacy, guidance, counselling, psychological services and provision for special educational needs.  The “website is an important user friendly reference for all those working in the sector. Although in its infancy the website contains a large amount of reference and support material already and this will undoubtedly grow as the site develops and expands”.

At the launch the Minister took the opportunity to thank all those involved in the development of the website, especially editor Ms. Mary Gordon, the members of the Portfolio Project who compiled the materials published on the site, webmaster Mr. Brendan Sheehan and designer Ms Gabby Dowling.

The website has been developed in parallel with the rollout and implementation of a new initiative to support the special educational needs of learners in Youthreach. This is the first year in which the new initiative has been operating in 20 Youthreach centres on a pilot basis, and the Minister took the opportunity to highlight what “has been a wonderful achievement and I wish to sincerely thank you for your hard work and endeavour in bringing this ambitious new initiative to fruition”.

The Minister concluded by extending best wishes to all those continuing their hard work in their centres and he hoped the new website would prove beneficial to all.

For Press Release click here.

News  from Centres

This section is for material provided by centres.  It demonstrates some of the range of activities and interventions taking place in centres for supporting learners and increasing their well-being and resilience.  It also includes examples of the work and creativity of the learners themselves. Centres are invited to send Mary Gordon material for inclusion in this section.

The Dream

I live in a world of love
Tranquillity and harmony
Where every little thing is resolved peacefully
There is never crime
War or even poverty
In this world I live in I’m the happiest I could be
There are no such things as orphans
Or living on the street

It never ever rains here
Just sun shine and summer heat
There is no such thing as global warming
And the ice cap never melts
There is no such thing as heartbreak
And pain is never felt

The only thing about this world
Is it doesn’t last too long you see
Because in the morning
My world is always gone

Rebecca O’Connor
Transforum Alley Youthreach - April 09

Pictures from centres - click on a photo to see full size