St Elizabeths Centre Annual Report End Dec 2022 FINAL - Flipbook - Page 17
Owen’s Story – a holistic approach to success
Owen joined St Elizabeth’s School in 2013 when
he was 9 years old, as a residential student. He
has a primary diagnosis of epilepsy, and a range of
complex needs and learning disabilities associated
with epilepsy.
Owen is a huge Manchester United fan, and jumps
at the chance to be involved in anything football or
sport related.
The 2022-2023 academic year is Owen’s last year in
education, which has proved quite dif昀椀cult for him
emotionally. As a result, we saw Owen’s attendance
drop from an average of 82% to 57%, with him
choosing to stay at home and not attend his regular
school activities.
Having known Owen for a number of years, support staff from different
services came together to discuss some ideas and thoughts on how
Owen’s attendance could be improved and how we could equip him
with better coping mechanisms to manage his anxiety and worries
around school. It was suggested that we could create some incentives
and motivations that involve some of this favourite things – namely
football!
Owen was brought in to the planning process, and
contributed his own ideas. It was decided that if
Owen put 100% effort into attending school, at the
end of every week he would be able to collect a
football-themed reward.
Different teams across the organisation were asked
to help with the delivery of a successful plan. Our
Marketing and Communications Manager was able
to secure a letter from Manchester United Club
and a goodie bag from the Manchester United
Foundation, and our long-term supporters O2E
agreed to let us use some of their 2022 funding to
fund Owen’s 昀椀nal reward - a trip to Old Trafford
to watch the England v North Macedonia football
game in June.
Owen’s school attendance has increased from 57% to just over 80% which not only helped
improve his academic progress but has given him a new found confidence in preparing
for his next journey to college.
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