DEVON County Council (DCC) are keen for colleges across the county to introduce programmes to help EHCP young people stay engaged with their education after seeing success at one Devon college.

The council says that Petroc’s programme helping young people with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) who suffer from extreme anxiety is working so well that it wants other colleges to introduce a similar style of programme.

Petroc has been piloting a programme that provides one-to-one support for young people with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), who are either at risk of disengaging, or who have already disengaged with their education, due to their extreme anxiety.

It is called Home to On-Site (or H2O), and it starts at home.

Mim White, Head of Inclusion and High Needs at Petroc, said: ‘These are young people whose extreme anxiety is preventing them from attending college.

‘Our trained mentors visit the young person in their own home, and gets to know them and their family, and properly understand their anxiety.

‘Over time, the relationship becomes one of trust and mutual respect, on which the young person feels comfortable to re-engage gradually with the education, re-shaping their outlook on their future.

‘We have found through this programme that when we meet young people where they are, and truly listen and respond to their needs, we can unlock potential that might otherwise go unrealised’.

The H2O programme is currently supporting 70 young people with EHCPs, helping to keep them engaged with their education.

The success of the pilot has prompted Devon County Council to encourage other colleges in Devon to take up similar programmes, to provide one-to-one support from Home to On-Site.