Our Impact
Read on for case studies and monitoring and evaluation headlines.
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Primary Well-being Intervention
Monitoring and Evaluation
For the academic year 23-24, 433 pupils completed Heartsense programme across 11 different schools. On completion, we ask the pupils, parents and teachers to complete an evaluation, assessing if they would report an improvement in the following areas:
Area | % of children reporting improvement | % of teachers reporting improvement | % of parents reporting improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
Wellbeing | 87% | 76% | 100% |
Confidence | 84% | 80% | 100% |
Expression of emotions | 80% | 64% | 90% |
Understanding of emotions | 93% | 74% | 100% |
Handling negative situations | 75% | 65% | 90% |
Behaviour outside of class | 84% | 65% | 83% |
Respecting others | 91% | 74% | 96% |
Making and keeping friends | 84% | 66% | 100% |
Ability to ask for help | 83% | 75% | 97% |
Behaviour in class | 83% | 70% | 91% |
Listening skills | 84% | 69% | 97% |
Attitude towards learning | 84% | 70% | 78% |
Pupils reported:
"I like unlimited because they have really helped me express and understand my emotions and it’s just so fun"
"They're nice and make me happy because I’m now calm when I’m in a negative situation"
Parents reported:
"He has really enjoyed his time on this program. Myself and his teacher have both noticed his improved confidence. I hope this opportunity comes up again for him, as I feel he is really benefiting from this."
"She has really enjoyed her time with Unlimited. She is now more able to deal with relationship fall-outs among peers."
"The programme has made a huge difference to my son in helping him to cope with the loss of his grandad. He has really struggled following this loss and it has really helped him."
Teachers reported:
"No playground problems reported since he started these sessions."
"She has definitely shown an improvement in her ability to cope with different emotions and can talk and explain rather than become overly emotional."
Case Studies
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Pupil A - Year 2, Friendship difficulties and behaviour in class
Pupil A attended a short Heartsense session once a week, alongside the afterschool club. A was referred due to social problems with other girls in her class - arguments, over-reacting and inappropriate behaviour. A responded best to short 1-2-1 sessions and engaged well for limited periods of time, being thoughtful and engaging with the material. However, at the afterschool club she was struggling with another girl - often arguing and using unkind language. In response to this we reminded all the girls of the rules of the club, and how we always speak to each other kindly and respectfully. A's behaviour improved at this point. Her teacher had reported a positive change; she was more settled and attentive in class, losing her temper less and started to rebuild her friendships.
Pupil B - Year 3, Anxiety and disruption in class
We worked with B in April 2021 fairly soon after schools reopened from Covid closures. When we first met him, he was very disruptive and anxious about being in school, and it stayed like this for the whole summer term. After returning back in September after the holidays, he expressed he was having problems at home. He had to spend his summer holiday sharing a room with his Mum at his Nan's house. We were able to spend a lot of time talking through his situation and how he could respond, and the change in him was incredible. He started to show a lot of empathy towards other people, and could fully express how he was feeling towards his Dad. His maturity and emotional intelligence along with the improvement in his behaviour became noticeable. When asked to complete a survey at the end of the spring term 2022, even though it outlined some negative changes, he expressed he would have been a lot worse if it wasn't for the support we put in place for him. On the completion of the programme, he said: "I will really miss them. Unlimited has really helped me over the last year and a half with emotions and everything that has happened in my life. I just want to say thank you so much for taking me and helping me. Thank you."
Pupil C - Year 4/5, Social skills and behaviour in and out of class
When we first worked with C his behaviour was very poor, with constant frustration from his class teacher. He didn't follow instructions well and struggled with social skills. We worked with him for the whole term, a mix of individual and group settings, but it appeared there was little impact. After resuming with him a year later (when he was now in year 5), we found he was in a particularly bad place, and had been referred to CAHMs for mental health support after he attempted to take his own life. Through talking with him, he opened up and listed a number of reasons as to why he wanted to take his own life including that no-one liked him, his Mum favoured his older brother and that he just made everyone sad. We spent time with him to have fun and to try and encourage him to think positively. It worked! His relationship with his Mum improved. His behaviour in class improved and he allowed himself to start enjoying things. This was evident when we took him on one of our adventure days. He spent 2 hours outside, in the snow, building shelters, learning how to light fires and cooking marshmallows over a bonfire. He did not stop smiling the entire time summing it up at the end with the statement “this has been the best day of my life!” We ran an end of term celebration event at the school for the parents and teachers, showcasing what the boys have achieved over the term. His Mum made a point of thanking us for the difference we had made to her son’s life.
Pupil T - Ongoing Support, Home situation - LAC
We first met T when he was in year 3 and for as long as we'd known him, he had been in the care system, following domestic violence in the family home. For the majority of years 3, 4 & 5 both he and his brother were in a stable long term foster placement. When T first took part in Unlimited, he was in a group with 3/4 other boys, and was very lively, loud and wanted to be heard. We gave him the opportunity to share his thoughts and every week he would bring in a toy to share and talk about why it was important to him. He thrived upon having 2/3 Unlimited team members listening to him discuss what was important to him. During year 5 we didn't see T as he was in a stable situation but this changed in Year 6 when he experienced foster placement uncertainty again. We began seeing T again on his own with a couple team members and he eventually started bringing in toys again and it was refreshing having him talking about the toys he cherished opposed to computer games and actively encouraged him to share. Aside from his, at times, unstable home-life, we were able to provide some consistency in a safe environment and setting him up for a good start for secondary school.
Pupil I - Year 3, Relationships with others
Before Unlimited, I would isolate himself a lot and behave in ways to put off other boys from building a friendship with him. I was diagnosed ASD and any behaviour issues with him or anyone else was a very black and white issue and everything had to be seen as totally fair or I would be very upset. He often felt as though the whole world was against him and no-one wanted to be his friend. Since attending Unlimited, I learnt the skills to build more positive relationships with lots of boys within the club. He was playing football as part of a team and didn’t expect to have the ball all of the time. He had built very positive relationships with all of the Unlimited team. Despite leaving the school, I was invited to attend the presentations at the end of Unlimited. He walked in with a massive smile as he greeted all of the team and all of the boys were delighted to see him. He said “You know what, I am loved by so many people.” I had gone from being self-centred and isolating himself to putting others before himself and wanting as many friendships as possible. He has gone from thinking adults are there to make life difficult for him to believing that he is loved and that many adults are there for care for him and to make life better for him.
Pupil F - Year 3, Anger Management
We first met F when he attended an after-school club in the Autumn, he had found it very hard to control his anger and had a history of being violent at home, he enjoyed his time at club and learned how to lose well without losing control. In Heartsense he made great progress in understanding his feelings and being able to move on from negative situations. He also learnt to see the benefits of forgiveness and trying his best to forgive others as well as himself for the negative thoughts that he believed about himself. He came a long way and was much more confident about moving on to secondary school the year.
Pupil N - Year 6, Confidence
N was referred to Unlimited for confidence issues. She was initially reluctant to attend, fearing this may single her out for attention from her peers and teachers. However, she quickly settled into the group and grew in confidence. She became a valuable member of the afterschool club, often seeking out and helping girls who were struggling or “on the edge”. Her kind nature meant that the others enjoyed her company. When we did an exercise where the other girls wrote down positive things about each other, N was both surprised and touched at the what the other girls wrote, and this boosted her confidence further. N volunteered to share at the celebration what Unlimited had taught her. She got very emotional when practising but chose to still have a go. When she did cry when sharing at the celebration, the other girls rallied round and supported her, which in some ways communicated what Unlimited does better than anything she could have said.
Secondary Mentoring
Monitoring and Evaluation
For the academic year 23-24, 70 pupils received mentoring supporting across 6 schools different schools. Pupils were asked to rank the extent to which mentoring has helped them (on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being high) across the following areas:
Area | Average Improvement Score |
|---|---|
Behaviour at home | 3.6 |
Behaviour at school | 4 |
Wellbeing | 4.2 |
Ability to control emotions | 4.1 |
Confidence about the future | 4 |
Confidence in social life | 3.9 |
Relationship with peers | 3.9 |
Confidence in school work | 3.9 |
Attitude towards learning | 3.8 |
Dealing with Problems | 4.3 |
Pupils reported:
"The progress I have made is that my anxiety has gotten better and I am doing better in lessons."
"I think this 1 to 1 session has helped me a lot and it has help me in lessons and it has made me more independent and I 100% recommend to someone else."
Case Studies
Pupil E - Year 9, Self Harm
In our introductory session, the pupil told me about her circumstances at home. She is the oldest of three children, with a younger brother, who is autistic, and a younger sister. They all live together with both parents. When asked what life is like outside of school, she explained to me that she collects her siblings from school everyday, as both of her parents have considerable health issues. (She did clarify at a second session that her Dad does drive to Primary School to collect her siblings, but can't walk far, so remains in the car while she gets out to collect them both). She does the family meals and all of the cooking, although they sometimes get takeaways, because her parents are too unwell. Her mother is in bed due to a problem with her legs. She has said her autistic brother only wants her to look after him, no one else. When I asked if she had ever had a referral for support for Young Carers, she said ''I think Dad might have tried something, but I'm not sure...'' I spoke with the school Safeguarding Lead immediately after the session, who will ensure that a Young Carers referral is followed up. I was glad I was able to give the pupil time and space to talk about her home life, and refer her to other services.
Pupil L - Year 8, School Refuser
L's mum works as a paramedic and against the backdrop of her gruelling shifts at work she has raised L and her older brother by herself. Things became particularly difficult for L during the COVID-19 pandemic when, at the age of eight, she began to see her mum suffering from immense pressure and work-related stress. By September 2023 L’s mum was in daily contact with her teachers (often in tears over the phone) because no matter what she tried she could not persuade L to attend her secondary school. The school’s SENCo managed to encourage L to attend school for one day per week in order to meet with an Unlimited Mentor. The mentor gained L’s trust by discussing her likes and dislikes, showing an interest in the things she cared about and listening attentively as she described her concerns. L felt that she didn’t fit in and as though everyone at school was looking at her. She said that in the past she had tried to attend registration in the playground, but found her anxiety getting the better of her and felt she had to return home. After just three weeks of mentoring, however, L decided she could manage to attend school five days per week, which represented a substantial move forward for her. The SENCo is really pleased with the tangible changes L is experiencing and with the resilience she is showing as a direct result of her mentoring sessions.
Pupil S - Year 10, Dealing with Parental Separation
(As told by Pupil S) I was really unhappy at home and I guess before that I used to get bullied at Primary school a lot so I didn’t have much confidence. I used to seclude myself and there used to be a lot of arguments and then something big happened; my mum and dad split up so I guess that led to me not being very happy and being secluded from everyone and me pushing people away. A decision I made, came down a lot on me, I was thinking about it for a very long time. I had got a bag, I had put clothes in it and stuff I needed and then I hid it outside my house and then my mum found it and I felt sick. I was trying not to say something, so when she found it I didn’t know what to say, so I just cried. That’s when she wrote a note in my book asking my Head of Year if he could get me some help and so I could to talk to someone. I started to talk to him about things and I guess in a way that helped a lot just knowing I could talk to someone. Since then I’ve been able to talk to her [Unlimited Mentor] and that’s made me feel more confident as a person because every time I talk to her it feels like a weight has been lifted and I feel free and I can express my emotions more, I can be happier when I want, I can be more confident in what I do and who I am and that was a big thing for me. I used to go straight up to my room and ignore everyone but now I try and make an effort to go downstairs and help. Whether that be for 5 minutes just talking to my mum helps as well, I know she’s there now I can talk to her. Without my mentor to talk to I probably would be in the same position always thinking about things and that was hard. It just didn’t make sense until I started talking to someone and then I felt better about myself. I guess that’s helped me a lot today to become the person who I am now. I have more friends, I talk more with my family. Instead of pushing people away I let them in closer to me so then I can talk to them and tell them things, I’m a much happier person now. My confidence is a lot better so I can talk to my friends a lot more than I used to. I used to call them “people I just know” I didn’t really call them friends but since then I’ve been happy to call them friends because I know them well now, whereas before I used to push them out. I didn’t like them, I didn’t accept them, I guess that was mainly because that’s how I felt, but now I feel happier so I talk to them a lot more than I used to and I’ve made more friends, I’ve built more bridges and I felt like that I was me again. I used to be very happy and that’s how I feel now and I used to help a lot people, I can do that again now because I felt broken and now I’m fixed, I feel fixed.