Skillway – Teaching Practical Skills to 13-16 year olds to Children who are at Risk of Becoming NEET

I had the pleasure of meeting Derek Pollard and Jack Tomes from Skillway at their premises in Godalming and I was also delighted to meet up again with Kevin Delf who was there from the Surrey Lifelong Learning Partnership.

My Shrieval theme is to help young people at risk of becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training) and that often requires early intervention and the opportunity to provide training outside the usual academic curriculum; Skillway operates squarely in this space. They aim to motivate and build confidence in 13 – 16 year olds by teaching them practical skills allied to trades and to nurture their personal potential – sometimes for the first time. Working in harmony with a student’s current education they endeavour o give them a feeling of success and an ability to achieve in a low pressure, nurturing environment.

Generally, their students are finding it difficult to succeed within the academic confines of school; becoming disengaged and sometimes disruptive. Frequently, the young people they serve are from challenging circumstances and can struggle to see their future positively.

At Skillway, their students enjoy ‘hands on‘ learning delivered by skilled volunteer craftspeople, with longstanding experience of their specialism. They are treated as young adults in an environment unlike school and are prepared to take the next step towards a positive future. The Skillway workshops are housed in the chapel buildings of Nightingale Cemetery. They have metalwork and woodwork workshops in the chapel and a separate Creative Craft studio at back of their tranquil Godalming site.

They currently support over 40 young people who are at risk of becoming NEET and thanks to their efforts hopefully these young people will have a more positive future.