Welcome to Project Salus

Who are we

Project Salus was previously known as Kent Safe Schools (KSS) and was part of Kent County Council. During its 15-year history, KSS remained at the "cutting edge" of developing services to empower children and young people and to support them to reach their potential. It received numerous national awards and has been comprehensively and positively evaluated through a range of external organisations.

Kent County Council decided that the functions of the KSS Unit would no longer be provided in-house but by an external body and so has set up a Social Enterprise (Community Interest Company), Project Salus, to deliver the core undertakings of KSS.

Project Salus currently employs 32 skilled and talented individuals from range of professional backgrounds. The Project is led by Peter Heckel and Sally Williamson.

For more information about Community Interest Companies, please visit

www.cicregulator.gov.uk/

History

Safe Schools Initiative - 1993

The Safe Schools initiative started after a county conference on Youth Crime Prevention run by the Police in November 1993. There had been concern about the levels of youth crime and anti-social behaviour, after which the Canterbury and Thanet steering group developed Youth Action Groups as a positive way to help young people to identify their issues of concern and find solutions.

Pilot project - 1994

In 1994, a pilot was set up in Thanet, including a full-time youth action project worker and a part-time assistant. It was their role to support youth action with groups of young people in local Thanet/Canterbury secondary schools. Youth action groups involved young people volunteering to tackle community safety issues such as:

• Anti-bullying
• Vandalism
• Drugs awareness
• Personal safety
• Develop links into district community safety plans.

Following extra funding from Kent County Council Safer Kent, the initiative continued during 1995 - 96. The pilot received positive feedback from the Inter-Agency Steering Group in January 1997:

'There can be no doubt that the development of the Safe Schools Initiative has contributed to the overall safety of young people in their school environment. It is particular noteworthy that the Thanet/Canterbury model has been promoted by Crime Concern and adopted nationally resulting in 20 similar developments based on inter-agency co-operation'.

Extending the pilot - 1997

The Kent Safe Schools Steering Group involved representatives from both statutory and voluntary organisations. Funding and resources were often pooled to aid the developments of projects.

In 1997, Kent County Council looked to extend the Safe Schools Initiative beyond the pilot scheme in East Kent by including the plan to develop a countywide project, later to be known as Kent Safe Schools, in the 5 year strategic plan.

In 1999, the first peer mentoring scheme was introduced in secondary schools offering peer support to pupils from older, trained mentors. This was followed by a primary peer mentoring (buddying) scheme in 2001 in Folkestone and by primary developments in youth action in 2002 in Thanet. These schemes have been rolled out and extended across many of the schools across Kent, along with the whole range of services currently included within the Project Salus framework.

What services do we deliver?

Project Salus is a flexible and responsive organisation that is at the cutting edge of service development. The framework of services listed is not intended to be exhaustive but should provide an outline of the key services, core business and best practice activities currently provided. Project Salus is continuously developing new services to respond to emerging need.

If you would like to discuss these services or the needs in your school, locality or area, please contact us.

• Anti-Bullying

  Project Salus is able to offer a variety of programmes and workshops on anti-bullying. These are targeted to identified need but can include:

  • Assemblies
    Raising awareness and highlighting solutions for pupils and school/setting staff
  • Safe School Anti-bullying accreditation
    An opportunity for schools to achieve recognised status as an anti-bullying school
  • Staff training
    Supporting staff throughout the school to identify and address bullying in a proactive and supportive way
  • Information gathering workshops
    Identifying particular areas of concern for young people and undertaking a peer led intervention to alleviate the issue
  • On-line anti-bullying survey
    Providing school, district and County level data about bullying activity

• Participation

  • Peer Mentoring
    Providing training for referred and volunteer students to become mentors, pairing them with pupils in need of support to offer continued guidance
  • Playground friends
    Working to alleviate common playground issues; this is an opportunity to gain an understanding of the playground and how to work with younger children. This includes basic training in communication, listening, anti-bullying, friendship and confidentiality.
  • Transitional activities
    Providing support to children and young people at significant transition points in their life to ensure they remain engaged
  • Diversionary activities
    Providing out-of-school activities in a safe environment aimed at providing a positive experience for children and young people and reducing anti-social or offending behaviour in the locality
  • Youth Action Groups
    – Provision of peer led groups that enable children and young people to identify and devise solutions for areas of concern to them, in their school/setting or community

• Targeted Mental Health in Schools & Settings

  All support is tailored to the need of the child or school and will reflect the issues identified in the referral and subsequent discussion. Activities to support this have included:

  • Identification and Referral
    Development and implementation of an identification tool for use in school to highlight those children in need of mental health support. This ensures no child is missed.
  • Primary intervention groups
    Delivery of evidence based group interventions tailored to identified needs of the pupils. Focused on nurture, self-esteem, social skills, positive behaviour and resilience. Techniques have included Animal Assisted Therapy and play interventions
  • Individual work
    Maintaining the group work programme but tailored to meet the needs of an individual child who may not benefit from a group intervention at this stage
  • Staff training
    Evidence based training programmes delivered to school staff and other educational professionals to ensure the environment and support in school promotes emotional well-being. One example is Emotional First Aid training
  • Guidance and Support
    Consultancy support offered to schools and parents, this includes linking with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service as required and signposting to appropriate services

• Domestic Violence (Preventative Services)

  • Training and Awareness Raising
    Delivery of school based training to ensure teaching staff have adequate knowledge and skills to support young people, understand the impact of domestic violence and are aware of the services available
  • Universal Programme
    Raising awareness about domestic abuse with children and young people, including information about unhealthy behaviours, making healthy choices and providing information of services available for help & support.
  • Targeted support
    
    • Delivery of awareness raising and confidence building activities for small groups of identified girls & young women at risk of engaging in abusive relationships
    • Individual tailored support for children & young people who have or who are experiencing domestic abuse either in the family or within their own relationships.
    • Targeted support for small groups of identified girls & young women experiencing abusive relationships – adapted Freedom Programme – working with Oasis Women’s Refuge, School Nurses & Domestic Abuse Teenage Midwives.
    • Targeted support for small groups of boys & young men exhibiting unhealthy behaviour within their relationships
  • Parental Support
    Supporting parents through signposting to appropriate services

• Restorative Approaches

  • Staff training
    Supporting the professional development of school staff through coordination and provision of training on restorative approaches
  • Restorative conferencing
    Project Salus staff are trained to facilitate restorative conferences. A powerful tool to resolve conflict within the school setting; this includes preparation, coordination and facilitation of the conference.
  • Guidance and support towards becoming a restorative school/partnership
    Project Salus is able to provide support and guidance to help schools integrate restorative practices into their ethos and practice. This includes support in planning, policy development, training, and implementation.

• Schools Drug Education Advisory Service

  • Drug Education Advice and Information
    Delivery of drugs education advice and information to all KCC Primary and Secondary Schools, PRUs and ACPs. This service also includes undertaking project based work.
  • Training
    Delivery of training for school staff and multi-agency professionals on all aspects of drugs education (including tobacco education/cessation and alcohol education), incident management and drugs related safeguarding issues
  • Consultancy and Policy Development
    Providing consultancy and policy development support for schools that have identified young people who have drug/alcohol related needs, including the co-ordination of an onward referral pathway
  • Project work
    Delivery of targeted projects for young people who are at risk of using alcohol/drugs or who are known to be using drugs. Interventions for young people who are at risk of a drugs/alcohol related exclusion from school

• Work Based and Vocational Learning

  • Work Based Learning
    Providing work experience and skills through work placements and community projects for Key Stage 4 pupils who are struggling to remain engaged with education, employment or training. This often requires extensive support to pupil and employer and a significant amount of detailed preparation.
  • Vocational Engagement
    Providing vocational education to pupils in mainstream settings who would otherwise struggle to achieve their potential

• Alternative Curriculum

  • Alternative Curriculum
    Delivery of creative and flexible education for pupils excluded (fixed term or permanent) or at risk of exclusion from school