Young People and Education

Highly engaging and effective, peer-led, accredited and tailored programmes to young people and those of school age in drugs and alcohol, healthy relationships, gangs, county lines, thinking skills and well-being

At Intuitive Thinking Skills, we have a passion for the power of education as a tool for positive change. Our workforce, recruited for their vast and varied Lived-Experience, live and breathe the belief that Every Child Matters and that no-one should be left behind. They bring their lived experience backgrounds to the students, creating powerful and credible role models to inform positive outlooks and beliefs.

Intuitive Thinking Skills have worked to improve outcomes for young people for over 5 years. We reinvigorate young minds by delivering alternative approaches to subjects that people often perceive as complex. Young People are often disempowered through negative labels such as “behavioural problems”, “learning difficulties”, “apathetic”, “disrespectful”, “disengaged”, “lack of care and attention”, “short attention span”, “aggressive”, “violent”, “reckless”, and “risky”.

To the contrary, we find young people are increasingly concerned about their environment, their safety, and their own welfare. Changes in societies approach from guidance, education, and nurturing has been replaced by treatment, therapies, and labels. Intuitive Thinking Skills counter this deficit-based approach by starting off with “what’s strong” rather than “what’s wrong”.

We also recognise our own culture has changed, previously the focus of a young person’s life was their communities where they live and their focus has now changed to the services they are engaged with. We have disempowered communities and replaced them with processes, services, and further barriers, stifling motivation, restricting their passion and skills. Rather than dealing with the cause of the problems, our focus has now changed to dealing with the effects.

Over the last 5 years, we have continued to develop our Attitude Change Programmes to cater for learners aged 11-18 and we now work with a number of Local Education Authorities across England and Wales.

We work to improve outcomes for young people which include re-engagement to mainstream education, reducing the risk of becoming involved in violence or crime and reducing SDQ scores.

We have different delivery models to suit the needs and learning styles of the young people we work with which include face to face groups, 1:1 mentoring as well as a blend of face to face and distanced digital interactions.

Referrals are typically taken directly from School Heads, Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), Alternative Education Settings or Social Services, and we take a tailored approach, ensuring that the learning experience and subjects covered speak directly to the needs of each individual student.

As with all of our work, we are always keen to adopt a joined-up approach that includes working with significant others in our students learning. We have experience with participating in PEP meetings as well as involving parents, guardians, and carers in our delivery to ensure that the Young Person gets the best possible support from every significant person in their development.

All of our work with young people can be underpinned by our nationally accredited qualifications:

  • NOCN One Award (*under 14 years)
  • NOCN Level 1 Award in Developing Critical Thinking Skills to Enhance Decision Making
  • NOCN Level 1 Award in Personal Resilience Building

Delivery Models:

  • Face-to-Face Classroom Learning
  • Remote Distanced Virtual Classroom Learning
  • 1-to-1 Structured Mentoring

We cover diverse topics such as:

  • Gangs and Grooming
  • County Lines & Criminal Exploitation
  • Child Sexual Exploitation
  • Positive Behaviour Change
  • Emotional Control
  • Drug and Alcohol Abstinence/Awareness
  • Mental Health Resilience
  • Adverse Childhood Experiences
  • Social Media Networks
  • Protecting Yourself
  • Family Values
  • Understanding Communities, Families, and Individuals
  • Personal Regards & Tolerance

*We are specialised in delivering bespoke sessions that speak to the needs of individuals and specific cohorts and additional sessions modules can be added upon request to fit the needs of individual students.