Specialist support for:
Children and young people
- Therapeutic approach to barriers to learning
- Risk of exclusion
- Feelings of isolation
- Involvement in gangs
- Risk of CSE/ CCE/ SYV
- Teenage pregnancy
- Being looked after/ adopted
- Coping with transition/ changes
- Being NEET
- SEN/EBD/AEN
- Supporting contextual safeguarding
In order to accommodate a wide range of young people we specifically believe in matching our specialists according to their skill set and background. With this in mind we commission and actively recruit from various ethnic minorities, with varied life experience and sound knowledge of today’s youth culture, which is a specific and major factor to our children’s lives in many inner city boroughs.
As well as ensuring we have a sociological match, many of our specialists are highly qualified professionals, business owners or are trained in popular vocational fields or trades. For young people who are planning a post 16 further or higher education career path, our specialists can provide information and first-hand experience.
Soulflexion values specialists who have the life experience of once being a teenage parent, care leaver or even offender in order to provide the most relative support, we recruit the most appropriate candidates.
Our specialists have key attributes such as patience, willingness not to pre-judge children, firmness, consistent approaches, high thresholds of tolerance and willingness to give students a second chance. Our aim is to establish a personal link and act as a friend, advocate, supervisor, constructive critic and motivator.
Sessions
Often children and young people refusing education and additional services are challenged by conventional methods of support. We aim to assist by creating bespoke packages blending sport, fitness, music, arts and crafts and alternative sessions for re-engagement. Physical activity is proven to help children with self-esteem and task management as well as provide an outlet for emotions. Therapeutic music support similarly aids children with language, behavioural, and social needs.
We aim to use our backgrounds in health, fitness and creative fields alongside our training and experience in trauma impacted practice to combat issues such as instability at home, peer disputes, high risk behaviour or contextual safeguarding.
SEN and AEN
When we engage in physical sessions we immediately boost the brain’s dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin levels—all of which affect focus and attention. In this way, exercise or walking sessions work in much the same way as ADHD medications such as Ritalin and Adderall.
When we are impacted by endorphins released during sessions, changes in the brain occur, such as reduced inflammation, neural growth and new activity patterns that produce feelings of calm and well-being.
We recruit support workers with backgrounds in education, inclusion and social care to implement activity based sessions that engage and inspire young people.
Supporting Every Child Matters
- We support health by providing support and advice to children and carers/ parents who may not be able to address particular issues and we refer to the most appropriate points of contact for additional services. We provide fitness, sport and wellbeing sessions.
- We promote enjoying and achieving by actively taking our children out to child focused activities, allowing the child to ‘be a child’ and experience what may be new and fundamental to a child moving forward and building an open relationship with their specialist.
- We provide a role model to show our children how to achieve economically and use well matched specialists to provide expertise in the field our child may have a specific interest in.
- We encourage a positive contribution from our young people which starts now. From joining extra-curricular activity groups, to helping to recycle and support or peer mentor, we inspire our young people to take ownership and responsibility for their lives and helping others.
- We see safeguarding as paramount and aim to build a relationship that is independent from social services, education or home. We use our position to identify risk to our young people and make these risks clear to the young person and the relevant adults around them. We work on discussing what young people may find difficult to talk to parents/carers about and liaise with both parties to ease barriers in communication. We are skilled and active in identifying contextual safeguarding issues.
Soulflexion are commissioned by Lewisham Virtual School and Social Care alongside numerous schools, boroughs, foster placements and alternative provisions in and outside of London.
Adults
We aim to support adults who are in need of some time and input for themselves. Adults who are overwhelmed with responsibility, co-dependency or simply self-neglect may lose track of who they are. When we forget about our interests or what it feels to connect with others, Soulflexion sessions are designed to provide a safe space to explore this and become more in tune. Soulflexion sessions can work as effectively as antidepressant medication—but without the side-effects. Through providing connections, routine fitness and/or creativity we avoid old habits and enable ourselves to reflect. Practicing mindfulness helps us to connect our body and physical ailments to our thoughts and ideas around the self.
We offer sessions in Yoga, Personal Training, Life Coaching and Mentoring as part of a bespoke package.
