Referring to Red Balloon

Schools and Children’s services

The aim of Red Balloons is the recovery of bullied children. We provide an ‘intensive care’ full-time education for children aged between 10 and 17 who are unable to go to school because they have been severely bullied.

We offer the students whom we accept a safe environment with clear boundaries for behaviour, and an individual full-time academic, pastoral and therapeutic programme.

Once the students have regained their confidence and are able to cope academically and socially, we support them in their return to mainstream school, their entry to further education or to employment.

Each Red Balloon Learner Centre takes up to fifteen young people.

Who do we take?

We accept any child who cannot access mainstream education because of bullying and for whom funding is available, on five conditions:

• There is a vacancy.
• The Coordinator and staff are confident that the Centre can offer the child the help they need.
• The child wants to come and will attend regularly.
• The child wants to learn and make academic progress.
• The child agrees to behave with respect and consideration at all times.

We have taken many students with statements of special educational needs, including social, behavioural and emotional difficulties.

Procedures for new students

Students can be referred by:

• Their Local Authority
• A parent or legal guardian
• Their school

• The referring party completes an official referral form (a request for which can be made to the local Red Balloon Learner Centre Coordinator) accompanied by parental permission. 
• A meeting with the parent(s)/legal guardian and child is arranged at which it is determined whether Red Balloon is an appropriate placement for the child;
• If we consider that it is, we will ask the student to think about whether they would like to take up a place;
• If they say they do, we arrange a taster day., so that they can see what Red Balloon is like.
• If, after the taster day, the student decides to come, and the staff think it is an appropriate placement, speedy enrolment is organised.
• The starting date is chosen so that the new student has time to get ready and RB can prepare current students and staff for the new arrival
• A letter Is sent to the parent/carer repeating the conditions under which the student has been accepted, giving start date, including a registration form, and an information pack with suggestions of what they should bring with them on the first day, contact details, term dates and all relevant policies, including Child Protection, Anti-Bullying and Complaints.
• A telephone call is made to the student the day before they arrive, in order to reassure them;
• On the day of arrival:
  • All the students and staff wear name labels;
  • One of the current students or support staff is asked to look after the new arrival;
  • The timetable and general procedures, such as taking shoes off in the house, are explained
• In the afternoon or evening after the first day, the parent/carer is asked how they think things have gone.

What happens when students recover?

Once a student has gained in self-confidence enough to start thinking about leaving Red Balloon and moving back to 'the outside world', the staff of Red Balloon work with them to determine an exit strategy. At this stage the parents and the Local Authority are brought into the discussion. Decisions have to be made about the student's next step, where they will go (back to their old school, to another school, to college, into employment), what support they will need, and what the timescale will be.

If the student is in Year 10 or 11, they will probably stay at Red Balloon even though they have recovered from the effects of bullying, as schools are reluctant to take them once the GCSE courses have begun. In such cases, those students will be given special responsibilities in the Red Balloon community, as well as the opportunity for targeted work experience (going out once a week for two or more months to a local business).

Our expertise lies in recovering children who have been bullied from the effects of that bullying: sometimes we take students who have been severely bullied and who have other conditions such as Asperger's, dyspraxia or learning difficulties. Once the student feels they have come to terms with what happened to them, have gained self-respect and learnt strategies for coping appropriately with anger (their own and others') and with unkind behaviour, it is time for them to move on, and we work with other agencies to find an appropriate placement.