Confidence is Sky High!
Taking Confidence to the Next Level!
Students from St George’s School in Thanet have been treated to an extra special celebration of all of the hard work they have put in to their On Track to Achieve programme this year, with a once in a lifetime experience – helicopter rides at nearby Manston Airport!
The group have been taking part in the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust programme with their athlete mentor and former Team GB fencing captain and Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Claire Bennett, since October, and certainly had to step out with the confidence and resilience they have been building on the programme as they took on this exhilarating challenge.
As well as the epic flight, the students also took a tour of the airfield, had lessons in archery and virtual reality flying, and were able to spend some time with the team asking questions about their roles and learning more about what it is like to work at an airfield.
The programme aims to reduce the risk of young people becoming involved with crime and instead give them the confidence and skills to have a brighter future. Time spent on the airfield and with the team has been a brilliant and interactive way for these young people to discover workplaces in their local area that they may never have previously had access to.
Claire shared her thoughts on the days:
“It was amazing and very emotional to see the St George’s students have the best day EVER! Huge, huge smiles on their faces all day!”
During the group’s social action project, which saw them sharing messages of hope and joy at Broadstairs station, St George’s Assistant Headteacher, Dave Morgan shared how he felt the programme had impacted students at the school:
“It’s allowed pupils to increase their confidence, to think about other people, and to actually think about the the impact of their actions. So I think it’s caused them to to think a lot more.”
With support from funders Southeastern Railway, Virtual School Kent, and Kent Community Foundation, Kent Police Child Centred Policing Team partnered with Dame Kelly Holmes Trust to become the first police team in the country to engage with young people in this way.
Speaking about the benefits of partnering on the programme for the Police team, Sergeant Sheena Maclean-Bell from Thanet’s Community Safety Unit, who joined the young people at the airfield, said:
“I certainly believe that we would never have had this this kind of relationship with the young people if we hadn’t spent a lot of time being part of this amazing programme - just to have their trust and them be able to come to us, both in the classroom but also, more importantly, out on the street. ”
The Trust is subsequently expanding our work with police forces and youth justice teams throughout areas of need in the UK. For more information contact chloenh@damekellyholmestrust.org