Bridge Project

An individual, tailored programme of activities designed to develop skills, boost confidence and enhance self esteem.

What is the Bridge Project?

The Bridge Project offers short-term or medium-term placements to school aged children and young people who are:

  • Struggling to cope with the school setting

  • At risk of exclusion

  • Have been excluded from school

The aim of the Bridge Project is to encourage and facilitate access back into education by working in partnership with schools and providing a fixed term alternative to the school environment.

ELHAP has run the Bridge Project for many years and successfully supported a number of young people excluded from both mainstream and special education.

What are the outcomes for the Bridge Project?

The project develops individual programmes focussed on specific outcomes but also focusses on general outcomes including:

  • Develop practical skills

  • Build confidence

  • Enhance self esteem

  • Build resiliency and coping skills

  • Reduce stress and anxiety

  • Develop positive learning experiences

Please note that ELHAP is not an educational setting and staff are not teachers. However the Bridge Project utilises this positively and so provides a non-school experience to help the child build positive relationships with project staff in order to then integrate learning from teaching staff at ELHAP.

Who is the Bridge Project for?

This project is for school aged children and young people who are struggling with their school placement, are at risk of exclusion or have already been excluded from education.

How does the Bridge Project run?

  1. Children are referred to the Bridge Project and attend ELHAP for an assessment session (normally a 1/2 day session)

  2. The Bridge Project considers the child’s needs and whether the Bridge Project is appropriate

  3. Placement details are agreed - staffing support, behaviour plan (if required), goals defined, length of placement, date of review, number of days per week etc

  4. Funding is agreed and confirmed

  5. The child attends the Bridge Project, normally 1 - 3 days per week

  6. After an initial phase where the child develops a positive working relationship with the project staff, teaching onsite at ELHAP starts (we ask for a delay before the teaching starts so we can develop a positive relationship and can then better support the teaching which can be stressful for some children)

  7. Review progress

  8. Plan and develop next steps (the Project always has a clear end and is a spring board either back to school or to a new school or other placement). Endings are carefully planned and often include a staged end whether the Bridge Project reduces and school attendance increases

When does the Bridge Project run?

Half days or whole days in school term time for the following times:

Whole day: 9:30am - 3:30pm
Morning session: 9:30am - 12:30pm
Afternoon session: 12:30pm - 3:30pm

How do children and young people access the Bridge Project?

Children and young people are normally referred and funded by their school, social worker or education team.

Further Information

For further information, including a discussion about potential placements, please contact ELHAP below.