When we first met Lucy*

Lucy started at Cambian Pengwern College in 2017, she had previously started at another provision which unfortunately didn’t work out resulting in a placement breakdown. She then came to visit Pengwern College with her family and moved in a few months later.

When Lucy came to us

Lucy had a diagnosis of severe learning disability and displayed some negative behaviour around some of her peers. Due to her previous placement breakdown, it was an uncertain time for Lucy and her behavioural problems created a challenging time for those involved. However with the commitment from staff, her fully co-operative parents and the support of a multidisciplinary team things began to improve.

Lucy was reluctant to engage with others in the early days of being at the college. At times she found it difficult to listen to instructions and would often wander off from a task, she was prone to not paying attention, struggled to inform staff where she was going and would take herself away from the group and essentially hide from staff.

Lucy's care

Lucy was supported with 1:1 Education and Care, and with this support she began to thrive and make great progress. Through working on targets, creating person-centred activities and alongside staff familiarity, Lucy demonstrated that she was able to listen and carry out instructions. Lucy particularly enjoyed the horticultural facilities at the college and took ownership of specific roles in the horticultural area, becoming familiar with her responsibilities.

Lucy has benefitted from a consistent approach from her staff and reaped the rewards. She also became able to focus for extended periods, was more willing to communicate with staff about where she was going rather than wandering off without informing them as she had done originally.

Today

Lucy was able to take part in work experience off site with support in two different settings gaining confidence and valuable work skills for the future. Further to this, she was able to successfully transition from on-site residential accommodation to offsite community accommodation, living with other girls preparing her for life after college.

Lucy received support from the Speech & Language and Occupational Therapy team encouraging her through one to one and group sessions which allowed her to become comfortable using her emerging conventional speech as well as using her Makaton to further support her communication.

What is the future like for Lucy?

Lucy has developed her confidence in using Makaton as part of her everyday communication to ensure she was able to make herself clearly understood. Lucy is much more social with her staff and peers in and around the college grounds, often initiating conversation with both new and familiar staff. She is much more confident when interacting with others now, always smiling and happy to converse.

Lucy has now successfully completed her qualification at the college and has just transitioned into supported accommodation back in her local area and we are delighted for her.

*Name's have been changed to protect identity