Case Studies

Student 1 is 19 and living independently in Wigston. She has a looked after background and has been on safeguarding interventions since she was a child. She has been known to Invent for two years. She finds getting up in the morning quite difficult due to her mental health.

She is gaining support from social services and JCP regarding benefits. She is keen to get involved in the beauty industry and takes part in activities in post 16 provision such as Hair and Beauty training and has Maths and English support. She has 1:1 session to help improve her reading and spelling.

She has been arrested multiple times and entered the criminal justice system, she has repeat offended several times has resulted in her receiving a 12-month suspended sentence. She is aware that any offence will lead to her being given a custodial sentence. She has stopped drinking alcohol with the help and support of Invent. She smokes marijuana daily and this affects her moods in the morning. She has refused to stop smoking cannabis as she believes this helps her. The court case weighed on her mind for some time and has affected her moods at Invent. It also affected her sleep which in turn affected her ability to focus at Invent. Anger management has always been an issue for her, and this is something she hopes to get under control. She has made a lot of progress in the 1:1 session and is beginning to accept the extra help. She has 10 minutes at the start of the session to talk about how she is feeling before starting the sessions task. This has helped her to separate her home life from the academic support she is receiving from Invent. She has opened up a lot during her sessions and often speaks about feeling overwhelmed by adult life. I believe she still feels very vulnerable and childlike in some aspects of her life. She often seems ‘preoccupied’ and not quite focused and, after talking during her 1:1 session, it often becomes apparent that she struggles to deal with daily life. It has been suggested that she speaks to a councillor in order to learn coping mechanisms. Without Invents support this student would feel isolated and in my view be at risk of re offending.