Why Me?
I am a mum of 2 teenagers I continue to live and learn alongside them; as my teens evolve so do I as a parent, I can’t do anything other than evolve with them if I’m to meet their ever-changing needs in an ever-evolving world.
When I felt that I needed some information, advice or tips to give me the confidence as a parent of teens I didn’t know where to turn too, the web was filled with local organisations that provided summer camps, holiday cover and contacts for various charities but nothing tangible or useful for my needs.
I did draw on knowledge, learning and training from within my professional life working with teenagers helping to provide me with insights into the contemporary teenage years; social and emotional learning topics that resonate and how to successfully engage with them.
Most of my adult working life has been working with and on behalf of teenagers, except from a few years working in hospitality (living in Blackpool, a seaside town in the North West of England, hospitality is a rite of passage)
I supported and guided care leavers by providing practical life skills when independence arrived in their life, and picked up a Quality Mark for Best Practice in the process.
As a Youth Worker I supported Blackpool's Youth Council during evenings and weekends; during the days I was teaching in a Key Stage 4 Pupil Referral Unit, where I developed the curriculums for Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE) alongside GCSE Citizenship and vocational work-based skills.
I switched it up a bit and transitioned to upskilling a large local authority children's workforce; developing, delivering and evaluating training courses aimed at reducing risk taking behaviour amongst their community of young people.
For the past 11 years I have been employed at a college, firstly teaching at Higher Education before moving to Further Education where I am a Programme Leader managing curriculums related to Health and Social Care.
My passion is learning, not only supporting others but mine too; I have most recently achieved my Master of Arts in Contemporary Youth and Community Work, prior to which I achieved my Post Graduate Certificate in Education; Post Graduate Diploma in Youth and Community Work, all underpinned by my BSc in Behavioural Sciences.
To complete my current portfolio, I achieved my Foundation Diploma in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), followed by my NLP Practitioner certification alongside a certificate in Mental Health First Aid for Young People.
Engage and Thrive has been rattling around in my brain for many years, I just wasn’t sure if I had the gumption to do anything about it, I didn’t know what it would look or feel like but I knew that if I had struggled as a parent to find information that I felt I needed and as a teacher knowing the value of social and emotional learning, not just for personal and social interactions, but also for academic success, then I was doing a disservice for our future teenagers by not sharing my knowledge.
I am a perfectionist, a conformist, a worrier, an over analyser, qualities that you may say are not a great list for an entrepreneur; On the flip side I am passionate, credible, authentic, enthusiastic and committed to being the best version of me to serve the teenagers within our communities.
Supporting teens, in the classroom or at home, can at times be a frustrating role but such a rewarding one, Engage with me and watch yourselves and our teens Thrive.
Hayley x
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