We are a not-for-profit called Say It With Your Chest. At Say It With Your Chest, we believe in the importance of empowering young people to be the best version of themselves. We achieve this by working in partnership with secondary schools to improve the behaviour and outcomes of students.
In collaboration with secondary schools we deliver a preventative programme called the Switch Ambassador Programme to students who are at the highest risk of being excluded. The programme includes tailored group workshops and 1:1 mentoring sessions. We work with students who are at the highest risk of being excluded because there are many negative outcomes that can happen as a result of being excluded from school. For example:
- One in four students who are excluded are not in education, employment or training ( NEET) between the ages of 16-19 (Department of Education, 2011).
- An excluded student is four times more likely to be jailed as an adult (The University of Edinburgh, 2016).
- Only 1% of excluded students go on to receive five good GCSE grades ( IPPR, 2017).
- Not engaging with school and being excluded are very strong indicators for those who are at risk of involvement in youth violence (Youth Safety Taskforce, 2018).
OUR APPROACH
- To treat all behaviour as a form of communication.
- Ask ourselves in every interaction what is the student trying to communicate through their behaviour.
- To empower rather than rescue the students that we work with, because we want students to take ownership of their future, their choices and the person that they want to be.
- Take into consideration the individual needs of students.
- Actively encourage students to use their voice in a positive way.
- Find out how the students feel about their lives and school rather than assume that we know the answer.
- Acknowledge what stage the students are at in our programme rather than focusing on where we want them to be.
OUR AIMS
- Reduce the rate of permanent and fixed period exclusions by decreasing persistent disruptive behaviour.
- Empower young people to raise their aspirations and break their negative behaviour cycles.
- Inform and influence public and policy awareness.
THE FOUNDER
Sabrina Jones has over ten years experience working with young people in different educational settings, where she has successfully improved behaviour, grades, confidence and attendance. Sabrina has a first class psychology degree and she has also completed training in counselling skills and adverse childhood experiences.
Sabrina founded Say It With Your Chest in 2018 and a year later she was awarded a Shackleton Leadership Award for her work with Say It With Your Chest as it was recognised that the Switch Ambassador Programme
‘‘is an inspirational project and run by a promising leader with the will to make a difference.’’
Sabrina is committed to the cause of Say It With Your Chest because from her own lived experience and career, she understands the difference that can be achieved if a young person is empowered to become a better version of themselves.