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What Your Donations Could Fund

Million Lost Voices - Secondary Years (11-16)

Ben

I CAN’s Secondary Years programme would have made a huge difference to Ben’s experience at mainstream secondary school.

Ben’s Story

Ben was bullied and excluded from school. Eventually he decided he was better off at home.

“When I was 3 I was diagnosed with speech and communication difficulties.

My experience of secondary school was bad. I couldn’t understand the work. They thought, because I could speak I could understand, so when I got stuff wrong they thought I was being out of order.

I didn’t have any friends. Kids used to tease me about my speech and pronunciation. Once, even the teacher shouted “Why can’t you be like every one else?” That’s always stuck with me.

I was excluded and I only lasted 2 weeks in another school. I left because I didn’t feel comfortable. I spent 2 and a half years out of school with no home tuition.

Eventually I got the support I needed from I CAN which has helped me achieve my GCSEs and an Introductory Diploma in Performing Arts. I still have some language and social difficulties, but I cope with them.

I hope to make a career in the performing arts. I would really like to go to RADA, but we will see!”

Ben received the specialist help he needed and has turned his life around.

Supporting the improvement of young people’s communication skills is crucial to helping them participate in learning and successfully make the transition to employment or further training.

  • Within some UK secondary schools in socially deprived areas 75% of young people have poor language skills which hamper learning and relationships.
  • Poor communication skills cause low self-esteem, social, emotional and behavioural problems.
  • 50%-75% of children excluded from school have significant problems with literacy, numeracy and oral language and communication.
  • Young people with poor language skills typically leave school with fewer qualifications: just 15% of children with speech and language difficulties achieve 5 GCSE A*-C compared to 57% of all young people.
  • 80% of young people who are not in education, employment, or training have communication difficulties.
  • 60-90% of young offenders have communication difficulties.*

*All statements are supported by published studies. Please contact I CAN for full details.

To help secondary school children with communications difficulties, our MILLION LOST VOICES APPEAL aims to raise up to £300,000 to:


Roll out I CAN’s highly successful Secondary School programme to 60 schools nationwide during 2011/12, and many more beyond, training staff and providing classroom learning tools to help children who are struggling to progress.

Based on results of I CAN’s current pilot, working with 14 Secondary Schools, this work could help 25,000 young people to improve in the following key areas:

  • Participation in learning
  • Behaviour
  • Attainment
  • Communication skills for employment and relationships
  • Transition into employment or further education