STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
TESSAA's aim is:
To provide an exceptional holistic service in homely environments where young people have the support, nurturing and acceptance they need to achieve goals and reach their full potential. A place where they are not only happy to be, but where young people feel safe to grow, build their independence and self-regulation skills and experience increased positive emotional wellbeing and sense of belonging.
To ensure every young person placed with us is given every opportunity to gain all the skills necessary to live independently and successfully in the community.
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We will achieve this by:
​Offering a high level of engagement, encouragement and support from our experienced, nurturing staff team. We believe positive relationships between young people and staff are key to placement success and are a significant factor in effecting change. Alongside excellent support skills, our staff team have additional individual qualifications/areas of expertise including teaching, personal training, emotional literacy support, employment and benefits, beauty therapy and substance misuse.
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TESSAA provides a dedicated staff team who have good understanding of the needs of the young people in our care and the models of support preferred by TESSAA. Staff will promote values of caring, respect, acceptance, education and engaging in social and leisure pursuits to support young people to feel safe, valued and confident to grow. They understand the importance of a consistent and warm approach which ensures young people feel safe to reflect on their experiences, stabilise their behaviours and increase pro-social skills.
We encourage young people to engage in 1-1 key work sessions to establish goals, plan the steps to achieve them and support the young person all the way. Not just educational, employment or training goals but also working towards independence, taking part in hobbies/activities, being part of the community and building social skills. Our ASDAN programme will ensure our young people have all the necessary skills to transition into independent living whilst gaining a recognised qualification.
Young people are offered activities as part of their TESSAA placement. These can include photography, art, board games, horse grooming, emotional literacy interventions, sporting activities, beauty therapy sessions and meditation.
We use an holistic and wrap around approach; young people also have access to a nurse drop-in service, emotional wellbeing support, education tools/tutors and we will work closely with local authorities, education/training providers and external agencies to develop a scaffold of support for each young person.
All young people will be encouraged to make use of the opportunities available to them including working with Princes Trust, Saints for Sport (18+), work experience, volunteering, visiting the local activities centre, horse riding, dance, driving lessons, sports and therapeutic opportunities both in and out of our service.
We can also offer moving on packages for young people leaving TESSAA’s accommodation to begin living independently. Bespoke plans of support agreed with the placing authority and young person may include moving into TESSAA or local authority accommodation with outreach support from the same TESSAA team the young person has built trusting relationships with; providing continuity of care that can be vital at this crucial stage.
TESSAA recognises the value of education but also understands mainstream education can be a challenging. we offer tutors at no additional cost and are also a registered ASDAN centre. All those placed with us will also have access to our online training and information package providing it is safe to do so.
Each young person will be offered and encouraged to learn all the necessary skills to successfully transition into independent living. When they are assessed as ready, staff can support the young person to transition into their own home. Our ASDAN programme evidences independent living skills, PSHE and money management whilst giving the young person the opportunity to gain a recognised qualification.
If you would like to see our full Statement of Purpose please