Targeted support for children who may struggle with school attendance or routine after school.

Sláintecare Healthy Communities in Longford working with their local Home School Community Liaison Officers (HSCLs) identified a need to support school going children in the community who are at risk of not completing their education. This has an obvious associated negative impact on future employment prospects of these children. In this Sláintecare Community generational unemployment, which is a health inequality, is prevalent. Having a safe space with qualified teachers available for extra support was identified as an opportunity to enable children to stay in school longer and enhance their opportunity for employment later in life.

Those at risk are identified and invited in

Homework Club is one part of the solution in addressing generational unemployment as a health inequality. The strategy to reach those who may not be completing their homework and are at risk of dropping out of education is to utilise the role of the Home School Community Liaison officers (HSCLs) in the local schools.  The HSCLs are familiar with the children and their families and the struggles that might be in their homes. This intimate community knowledge is key to identifying those that would benefit from extra supports. The Homework Club aims to support children who might struggle to complete homework due to lack of parental support, for example their parent may be illiterate, not have English as their first language or simply be going through a difficult time with illness or addiction. These children are invited to take part in Homework Club in the community house in their local area with teachers on hand to support them.

Funded by Longford Co. Co.

The homework club is implemented via the Local School Completion Project, the cost of the project is grant aided from Longford County Council to Longford School Completion Programme. The Longford School completion project has strong partnership links with the local schools who are engaged in the project. The project first began in late 2022 and enhancements are made to continuously improve it as it is delivered each school term.

A challenge of the project is that it is not open to every child, it is very targeted to those who need it and so there are some children in the area who would be interested in being involved but are not engaged. A solution to this challenge has been to run a ‘kids club’ alongside Homework Club which is open to everyone and this reduces the other children feeling left out while also offering them a safe and enjoyable after school activity.

The Local Development Officer role is key to devising and enabling of this programme and the “kids club” running in parallel. They identified and targeted the health inequality that is generational unemployment and decided to address it at the earliest stage with the children. By establishing the Homework Clubs in community houses based in the depths of the Sláintecare  community it  allowed physical space for education within these children would not normally be able access.  By giving access  it ensures ensure the spaces are warm, welcoming and give the children attending a nice safe happy feeling. The homework clubs have also hosted guest facilitators such as the Community Food and Nutrition Worker who have done nutrition workshops with the groups adding to their health awareness and education.

Note: The community houses are overseen by Sláintecare Healthy Communities Local Development Officer and colleagues in the local Community Safety Partnership.

Success breeds success as the club continue to deliver and evolve

The sustainability of the project has proven the continued need for it, each school term there is a demand for the spaces in homework club and it shows it is having a positive impact in the lives of the children involved. All of the HSCL’s have given praise to the project for the support it provides to the children and are keen to be involved in the project in the future.

The feedback from teachers, school liaison officers and staff running the club is very positive;

A fabulous resource for Target Pupils to help them complete their homework.

A place that accepts and understands the challenges that these pupils face.

A supportive hour after school to help pupils and their parents/guardians. Sometimes , it can be the only hour of education they have after school.

It is a very important resource for our Target Pupils and their families.

Attendees are content, happy and most important; feel safe going to Homework Club on a Monday and Tuesday. They enjoy heading off after school to their local Homework Club. It is a safe space where they get homework done but also an extra hour where they have space, education and chill out time. Our pupils connected well with the staff running the Homework Club. Many students are returning to cramped living conditions so it is a perfect place to get their Homework done with the assistance of a teacher and leader present. Many of the targeted pupils parents or guardians can struggle with English. Some households do not have space for a kitchen table. Having Homework Club has helped participants immensely with both their education and their social skills development. There is room to expand this programme to reduce generational unemployment in other age groups in the future.

Further information on the Homework Club project can be found at here or for more information about this or the other Sláintecare Healthy Communities projects in the area please contact Patricia Forde (Sláintecare Healthy Communities Local Development Officer).