James’s Story

Lynne first met with James at his school. He was very anxious about meeting Lynne and hid behind a chair when Lynne approached him. Lynne asked him if he wanted a friend or a teacher to join them and said that it would be a short meeting and talked about what would be covered. This put him at ease and he was happy to engage in the session without support.

 James told Lynne that he had recently secured a place at Edinburgh College to study Introduction to Cookery and Hospitality Skills, which he was really pleased about. However, he was nervous about leaving school and not having the high level of support he had at school.

 James and Lynne started to meet outwith the school building, in places such as the local community centre and Bridges Project’s office, to allow James to get used to being in different environments, build his confidence and start thinking about self-travel and the support that he would need. The focus of their sessions were on areas such as planning journeys and solving issues that can happen when using public transport.

 Soon, Lynne and James started travel training. This involved Lynne meeting James at his home and getting the bus with him to Edinburgh College and back home until he was familiar with the route and confident to manage the journey himself. This took a few months of practice but James did very well and received a certificate for the completion of his self-travel training.

 After finishing their travel training, Lynne and James started to focus on learning techniques for developing confidence. This made it much easier for James to move on to college.

 Lynne also supported James to apply for his care experienced bursary, enrol in college and link in with support staff at Edinburgh College to ensure that his support needs would be met from the start. The college agreed to fund a Study Skills Tutor for two hours per week, which would mean that James would have dedicated time to focus on his learning on a one-to-one basis. Lynne also passed on the information about his health needs to the college and strategies were put in place to allow James to deal with his health needs discreetly.

 James started the Introduction to Cookery and Hospitality Skills but had an unsettled start due to months of industrial action. During this period, Lynne remained in regular contact with James and arranged frequent review meetings with his Learning Support Advisor.

 It took James a while to settle into his new routine but he showed great determination and resilience throughout. James was able to build up positive relationships with other students and through encouragement from others, put himself forward for class representative, volunteering at college events and embracing college life. This was a massive step forward and showed how much James’s confidence and self-belief had developed since leaving school.

James successfully completed the six-month introduction course and gained a place on the progression course, Introduction to Catering and Hospitality. James continued to flourish in college and Lynne was able to close his case.