Young London SOS: Schools reap rewards of £250,000 raised

Support comes at critical time as children return with lockdown trauma
Mona Taybi
Mona Taybi, acting head teacher at Platanos College in Stockwell
Daniel Hambury/Stella Pictures Ltd

The first two schools to benefit from the generosity of readers backing our Young London SOS campaign say the support is “vital” and comes at a critical time “that will change lives”.

Platanos College, a mixed secondary school in Stockwell with 972 pupils, and Prendergast Vale, with 824 pupils aged three to 18 in Lewisham, will together receive funding of £65,000 to deploy the counselling services of our campaign partner Place2Be.

Both schools are in areas of high deprivation with pupil premiums of 66 and 44 per cent respectively, well above the national average of 27 per cent. Platanos has never had Place2Be before, whereas Prendergast Vale suffered budget cuts and additional Covid costs that meant losing their existing Place2Be service — if not for our backing.

It comes as the total raised by our campaign grew to almost £250,000, thanks to a £100,000 donation from a financial institution in the City.

Mona Taybi, acting headteacher of Platanos College, said: “Our catchment area has experienced a kind of collective trauma and this has been exacerbated by the pandemic. We’ve got pupils who have been to the funerals of friends who were victims of knife crime. In addition, a significant number are grieving multiple losses of grandparents and elderly relatives to Covid and are trying to manage their own worries.”

She added: “On return from lockdown, we noticed that many of our pupils felt a lot more anxious. In year 11, the main cause of the anxiety is uncertainty around GCSEs, in year 10 it’s because they feel they’ve lost critical learning, in year nine it’s because they’ve lost time and feel they are not ready for the transition to GCSEs. Place2Be gives us an extra layer of wrap-around support. It’s absolutely vital.”

The Place2Be whole school service at Platanos College will include weekly one-to-one counselling for pupils, a Place2Talk lunch-time self-referral service, and support for teachers and parents.

Edd Snoxell, assistant headteacher at Prendergast Vale, said: “Many of our pupils are brought up by single parents and we tend to step in with support for uniforms, stationery and school trips, but the need we are now seeing is different. A lot of our children struggled with internet access and overcrowding at home and many returned after not having left their homes for months.

“We have seen children who would normally be confident withdraw into their shell, be on their own in the playground and fail to read the regular social cues as to when their peers are joking or serious. They have forgotten how to socialise and how to control their emotions, and I think we will see the impact of this for years to come.”

He added: “Without the backing of your readers who are paying for our Place2Be service, we would have lost their support at the most important time to keep them. It will change lives.”

Platanos College was evaluated as outstanding in its last Ofsted and Prendergast Vale was rated good. Both have highly diverse student bodies.

Place2Be said the schools were chosen “based on applications in which they expressed both their immediate need for mental health support and also their ongoing commitment to mental health”.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Visit place2be.org.uk/younglondon to donate. Every £100 donated to Place2Be delivers a whole school service to a vulnerable child for a year.

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