Supporting Children and Young People in Second Half Of the Autumn Term

This half term has been another fantastic period for the Children and Young people team as we continue to guide students through the stages of the Growth Programme which has included community habitat sessions and coaching sessions. And although the brilliant Transition Project has now come to an end, our support is far from over. We continue to make regular check-ins to ensure our new Year 7 students feel settled, confident, and supported as they progress through their first year at their new schools.

Secondary Community Habitat Sessions

Also, this half term we have begun our secondary community habitat sessions with Goffs academy and Goffs Churchgate Secondary Schools. These sessions allow the children to take part in structured, meaningful projects that build self-esteem, resilience, and leadership. With the support of our highly qualified team, young people learn how to set goals, stay focused, and take pride in their achievements. These sessions take place out in the forest at Fishers Green Lee Valley. They use tools to cut back and prune Hawthorn and in the afternoons they make tools out of wooden blocks or build dens for the animals.
This term one of our groups had a production company fly over from America to capture some footage of the hard work that they do to help the community, this is to go into a google video. The kids all enjoyed this experience so much.
And another group enjoyed welcoming the High Sheriff of Hertfordshire along to one of their habitat sessions, showing the High Sheriff their new found skills.

Primary Community Habitat Projects

Over the past few weeks, we have also begun on our community habitat projects with primary children where we take the children out to the local parks in the Broxbourne borough and do some community work such as raking all the leaves that have fallen from the autumnal trees and planting some daffodil bulbs ready for the spring.
The children show such amazing resilience on the very cold days but they do enjoy working as part of a team, having mini competitions on who can rake the biggest pile of leaves and working all together to pull the huge bag of leaves out of the way for other park users.

Recording For Children In Need Radio 

A Heart warming Morning in School with Our Children and Young People Team a few weeks ago they joined our Marketing and Communications Team in one of our partnered schools to record a very special radio segment. The children who take part in our after school programme were invited to share their experiences, as this programme is proudly funded by Children in Need.

We were approached to take part in a radio feature that highlights the work of CHEXS and how we support children and young people in everyday life. It was an incredible opportunity for the children to use their voices and talk about the positive impact the programme has had on their confidence and wellbeing.

Listening to these young people speak so openly was truly heartwarming. Their excitement, honesty and pride reminded us exactly why our work matters.

We are very proud of every young person who took part and to listen to the final radio piece and watch a video we put together please click blow.

Click here to watch the video

Computer Science Workshop Sessions

The computer science workshop has now completely finished for this term, and we had an excellent sessions which focused on satellite vison , bats to bytes which spoke about technology in sport and artificial intelligence. The amazing sixth form students from Goffs Academy and  St. Mary’s school delivered these sessions, watching the six formers lead these sessions with such confidence and watching them interact with the primary children was amazing to watch and they all ran so smoothly so a huge thank you to the students who showed such professionalism. The Google production company that came over from America also visited one of our sessions to capture some of the amazing work that the children have been doing.

Meet the Team Behind the Magic!

Our dedicated Children and Young People Team brings expertise, passion, and commitment to every session. With vast experience in mentoring, education, and youth development, they ensure that every activity supports the young people’s growth and aspirations. Learn more about their incredible work and qualifications:

  • Nicola Roberts: Read More – With a strong background in education and safeguarding, Nicola plays a pivotal role in delivering impactful and meaningful programmes that support young people’s well-being and personal growth.
  • Karen MH: Read More – A highly skilled practitioner, Karen brings a wealth of knowledge in emotional resilience and mentoring, helping young people develop confidence and leadership skills.
  • Jack Ferris: Read More – Is a qualified football coach who volunteers in youth football. Jack’s back ground is in education and he is trained following the Hertfordshire’s therapeutic thinking approach formally known as “Steps”.

Looking Ahead

As we move into the next half, we’re excited to:

  • See how the young people on our Growth program start the Teamwork and Leadership project in January.
  • Christmas Holiday Club Programme, what fun projects will we be doing.
  • Still working on our projects Aspirations and Role Model.
  • Starting a NEW Boys My Life project.
  • Spending time with our children and young people enrolled on our Growth Program.
  • Continue empowering young people through outdoor learning and leadership challenges.
  • Provide tailored mentoring and emotional resilience coaching.
  • Strengthen community connections through meaningful projects.
  • Help young people develop life skills that will serve them beyond school.
  • and most importantly – HAVE FUN!

Thank you to everyone who supports CHEXS…together, we’re making a real difference!