LHALD
Living Hope Academy of Life Skills Development
Primary School Transition Programme
The transitioning experience from primary school to high school is impacted by deep emotional experiences and feelings. Parents and children have expressed that, while a sense of achievement and the feeling of excitement are real for some, they also experience anxiety due to a fear of the unknown. For many children, great expectations and hope of a bright and new beginning, soon turn to loneliness, lack of confidence and a sense that they do not belong. Many, also, experience bullying during the transitioning year.
The absence of appropriate support systems and the lack of coping skills, generally leads to students’ poor academic performance, depression and or suicidal tendencies. To address this problem, Living Hope Jamaica has established an academy for life skills development, which teaches the fundamentals of making healthy life choices and building confidence in young people.
Living Hope Academy of Life Skills Development (LHALD) launches “Skills for Life” in September, 2020. Youth at the Cross Roads (YATC) Character Education Curriculum, developed by CRU International (a Christian faith-based organization), is our main instructional manual. Along with other strategies which have been researched and proven to increase and improve the social outcomes of young people, as well as, empower them to perform credibly academically, YATC will lay the foundation for a successful transition.
The objectives of “Skills for Life” are:Equipping adolescents with the skills to improve their social interactions and academic performance.
- Teaching young people how to esteem their sexuality and build healthy relationships.
- Equipping young people with the appropriate skills to make the right decisions about their future and to manage conflicts appropriately.
- Enabling participants to gain confidence through exposure to training in an art form – Drama/Acting.
Through “Skills for Life” LHALD will expose pre-teen and adolescents to character development education, social skills training, academic guidance and training in drama/acting. In addition, students will be engaged in group and individual affective counselling.
Ten lessons from the YATC curriculum will form the core of this programme:
- Understanding Yourself,
- Building Friendships,
- Building Character,
- A Role Model of Good Character,
- Facing Choices,
- How to Say No,
- Defining Genuine Love,
- The Hawk and the King,
- Respecting Others, and,
- Your Life at the Crossroads.
The teaching methodology is highly interactive and facilitates direct learning through the use of games, discussions, creative writing, personal assignments, dramatizations, and stories. In addition to these lessons, presentations on conflict management, Interpersonal Communication, as well as, Sex and Sexuality will be included in the activities.
LHALD is managed by a trained social service professional who is responsible for the coordination of the programme, including timetabling and recruitment. Participants will be guided and counseled throughout the duration of the training programme as they learn the fundamentals of handling relationships, making decisions, and how to appropriately treat with their sexuality. Each student will be assigned one counselling session to assess for emotional and psychological wellness with the possibility of more sessions, if required.
The “Skills for Life” programme includes, as a necessary part of its structure, a parenting component. One session on “Parenting Adolescents” will be conducted with the parents whose children are enrolled in the programme. Participants will be guided through the stages of development with emphasis placed on the stages that their children are currently experiencing. These interactive sessions, while increasing and improving knowledge, will allow parents to ask relevant questions and engage trained professionals in discussions, demystifying the parenting process.