Oasis St Martin’s Village’ in Tulse Hill, south London, will open in September on the site of a former girls’ school which closed last year due to declining pupil numbers.
The pilot comes following “conversations with the Labour Party” around its Young Futures Programme which is planned to reduce risk of involvement in youth crime for the most vulnerable children and support those struggling to attend mainstream school.
In its recent campaign manifesto, released ahead of the general election, the Labour Party said it would invest £95mn to create a youth hub in every community.
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CYP Now understands that the policy would be overseen by the Home Office.
Oasis St Martin’s Village will support local schools, parents and families, to tackle the school attendance crisis as well as issues around lack of support for young people with special educational needs and mental health problems, behaviour issues and those subject to exclusions, according to the Trust.
Through mentoring and one-to-one therapeutic care, youth workers and mental health support teams will also work with children and young people to prevent them from being drawn into violence and crime.
St Martin’s Village is the first of a small number of Young Futures pilot projects Oasis says it is planning to open during the autumn around the country, in response to Labour’s manifesto commitment.
The initial pilot aims to deliver a raft of free enrichment activities including sport, music, agriculture, dance and art as well as providing numeracy and literacy classes.
Steve Chalke, founder of Oasis Charitable Trust, said: “We are getting started ahead of the policy detail and funding being worked on and finalised, because that is the best way to inform that process.”
Chalke highlighted a drop in attendance levels for pupils in mainstream school since the pandemic, alongside a rise in violent crime involving young people.
According to Department for Education figures, a fifth pupils were classed as persistently absent during last year’s autumn term.
Chalke added: “The school attendance crisis is a systemic problem, it’s not something that can be seen in isolation and solved with a pull of a policy lever here or there. The whole ecosystem of a child’s life matters. At Oasis St Martin’s we will therefore work in partnership with families and local community and grassroots groups, as well as the statutory services.
“We believe that the power of the voluntary sector and local people will add huge value. For too long we have repeated the mantra that it takes a village to raise a child, and then left the village out. We’ve side-lined our greatest national asset: local people – mums, dads, families, and other community members. It’s time for a radical reset – and it’s one that Oasis is committed to helping Labour deliver”.
Meanwhile, according to the Guardian, the king’s speech, due on 17 July, is expected to outline measures including a new offence of child criminal exploitation which would crackdown on drugs gangs which exploit children.
Last month, Oasis opened the UK’s first secure school – a radical new custody setting for young people based on a model of holistic rehabilitation.
