So as the Term finished, what did the young people at Pushforward get up to?…. lots of course!

Lets start by looking first at Maths, English and assessments. These young people are not in a noisy school or a classroom full of 30 other young people, struggling to cope, experiencing high anxiety and stress. They are a in a calm quiet environment, 1-2-1 with their tutor, stress free and encouraged to flourish at their own speed and ability.

• Spreadsheets, areas of circles, hexagons, octagons, parallelograms and trapezoids
• Force, Area & Pressure up to GCSE Level 4
• Maths & English Work
• Solving 1 step & 2 step equation questions in Maths
• Calculating complex worded problems
• Assessments to help us identify their ability correctly, ensuring we give the right level of support moving forwards
• English – question finding information in text
• Reading about castles, repeating familiar phrases
• Playing phonics bingo

After school the next stage is work. Here our young plumber apprentice is working hard on converting an out-house into a utility room, plumbing in a washing machine, space for a tumble drier, erecting wood panels ready for tiling and fixing the outside toilet (yes there is a toilet outside!).

It’s hard to imagine now, but many people in the UK still remember growing up with an outside toilet, (often called an outhouse) tin baths and having to collect water when the pipes froze. Outdoor toilets like these outhouses were a normal part of life up until the 1950s, 1960s and even 1970s.

Over in Newmarket 1, Newmarket 2 & Lowestoft 1 we have been busy building and creating:

• Spraying metal base for a bench project
• Another bench project coming along nicely
• Creating a Ghost Carp fishing box
• Scorching tool box
• Painting benches
• Having fun visiting tool shops
• Oiling Oak chopping board
• Making a bedside table
• making a rustic looking rolling pin
• Soldering some pipes
• Creating somewhere to keep your keys hanging safe
• Converting MTB bike
• Fitting a kennel door

So we better do some exercise to work off in advance all those mince pies!

• A visit to our new MMA gym – It is a full-body workout that improves cardiovascular fitness, strength, and flexibility. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) training can also increase muscle mass, endurance, and coordination
• Curve Motion roller skating – Roller skating provides a complete aerobic workout and involves all of the body’s muscles, especially the heart.
• Some fun in the woods getting fresh air and exercise – Studies have shown that physical activity outdoors lowers a person’s blood pressure and heart rate.

There are many life skills required when cooking. From planning, organising, purchasing to preparing the meals. Many learning outcomes too; from health eating habits, taking direction, creativity, working with others, safety & responsibility. There is also a great tangible result at the end – something to be proud of, to enjoy and share with others.

From Chocolate brownies, Chilli Con Carnie, pasta bake, fresh fruit smoothies, spaghetti bolognese and gingerbread biscuits, homemade soups, jams and fudge:

We visited lots of great places too:

• Fun in the Park
• Banham Zoo
• Visit to Ickworth Park Estate – Ickworth House, Parkland and Gardens is a unique place created from the vision of an eccentric man – Frederick Hervey, the Earl-Bishop; commissioned to be a magnificent showcase to house his priceless treasures within the ancient deer park and gardens of the Hervey family Country estate.
• Exploring a Bomb Crater site and WWII Pill Box – Pillboxes in Britain would often be used to defend key areas such as bridges, ports and airfields but were also used to cover wide areas of land and potential landing sites to hinder enemy movement in case of invasion.
• Fishing Trip to the river Bure meeting river Yar
• Evidence Room – Christmas Room. Our Elves, got ready to puzzle their way out of a Christmas catastrophe!  They had theirs wits about them, their skills and theirs smarts, to get out of this pickle! – I am pleased to say our Young People did escape!

We have been making some awesome music in the studio at Henley.

Music exerts a powerful influence on human beings. It can boost memory, build task endurance, lighten your mood, reduce anxiety and depression, stave off fatigue, improve your response to pain, and help you work out more effectively.

Three different activities, but allowing us to play co-cooperatively with others.

• A game of creating and playing Viking Norse Myth God and Goddess Top Trumps
• Playing Lego with friends
• Fun with a parachute, working with others and an opportunity for language development

Play improves the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and young people. Through play, children learn about the world and themselves. They also learn skills they need for study, work and relationships such as: confidence.

With our Arts & Crafts we have continued with our elephant structure project, we have decorated a box for our dog’s treats, we have been artistic for Christmas on nails and we have been busy creating a spray paint mural.

Graffiti art has its origins in 1970s New York, when young people began to use spray paint and other materials to create images on buildings and on the sides of subway trains. Such graffiti can range from bright graphic images (wildstyle) to the stylised monogram (tag).

Being independent gives you the ability to care for yourself, either emotionally, physically, or financially. This can increase happiness, promotes a sense of belonging, gives you a sense of purpose, and increases your life satisfaction.

So, learning to be independent is a hugely important life skill. Being able to travel around independently allows you to work, meet friends, explore. For the last 6 weeks one young lady has been building up her confidence by travelling on the train, further and further, with an end goal to reach London – and they did it!

Congratulations a massive achievement.

A little session on the drone, finished off with a treat at Five Guys and a cream topped hot-chocolate..yum!

We also did loads of Christmas activities; from visiting stores packed with Christmas decorations, making our own decorations, visiting Santa and helping to create beautifully decorated Christmas Trees

Everyone at Pushforward hopes your Christmas was filled with love, laughter and happiness.

Our Ethos

No one can begin to affect the world around them until they are CONFIDENT , COMFORTABLE, happy in their own skin and have found their SPARK! We take the time to understand and develop programmes from where the learner is in the world not where we think they should be.