Consultancy - Education

Education

Calmspace can provide:

Specialist support for adults who work with young people, in both formal and informal educational settings, including those involved with young people who have learning difficulties, disabilities, mental health problems or display destructive or challenging behaviour.

Calmspace can provide an independent and neutral approach to help organisations who, through working with young people who display these behaviours or tendencies, suffer a significant drain on resources and a negative impact on the well being of adult educators and young people.

We work with practitioners, managers and policy makers in schools, colleges and youth work settings and within statutory, private and voluntary and community settings.

Our consultancy services are designed to provide information, advice and guidance and the creation of effective interventions to improve working relationships between the adults who work with young people and young people themselves.

Services include

• Identifying and meeting young people’s needs
• Handling challenging behaviour
• Planning programmes to support young people’s personal and social development and meaningful participation
• Monitoring, evaluating, assessment and recording
• Defining and managing personal boundaries, including time and stress management
• Supervision and management development
• Performance management and employee development
• Working with steering groups, management committees and youth forums
• Inter-agency working
• Predicting future trends and development
• Appraising organisational strengths and weaknesses
• Training in different aspects of working with young people
• Interim Management quickly analsying situations, developing solutions and building support to ensure work is delivered on time and within budget.
  

Experience with Young People

Maureen O’Callaghan has been working with young people for over 20 years during which time she has worked locally, regionally, nationally and internationally in a variety of roles including:

• Play and activity leader working with young people with learning difficulties
• Project worker supporting young parents
• Working with young people looked after by the local authority
• Working and running youth clubs
• Providing information, publications, training and consultancy services in support of the children’s rights agenda
• Heading a national team providing a range of personal and social development opportunities to young people identified as being “ at risk”
• Training young people as peer educators
• Supporting young people’s participation in decision making
• Supporting social action projects
• Developing and supporting young people as active citizens
• Supporting self-advocacy for disabled young people
• Developing and embedding quality assurance frameworks
• Providing information, advice and guidance around funding for work with young people

Much of this work involved working with young people who experience a range of barriers to inclusion and learning.

More recently Maureen has worked as a researcher on behalf of The National Youth Agency, and a number of statutory and voluntary organisations. Research projects have included:-

• Developing models of good practice e.g. in befriending, youth participation, social action, global citizenship and employer engagement.
• Barriers to learning experienced by young people within the migrant worker community.
• Identifying the skills young people develop through volunteering.
• Teacher stress within schools and FE Colleges
• Young people’s oracy skills and employability
• Numeracy and literacy skills within informal educations settings
• Young people and financial management.
  

Qualifications

• Certificate in Education (Post Compulsory)
• BTEC Level 7 in Management Studies
• Diplomas: Life Coaching, Stress Management Training and Organisational Stress Management
• University Diploma in Mentoring in Education
• Youth work and social work training

Memberships

• Institute for Learning
• Chartered Management Institute
• International Stress Management Association (UK)

Approved consultant or trainer with:

• The National Youth Agency
• Children’s Workforce Development Council
• National Council of Voluntary Organisations
• Lincolnshire and Leicestershire County Councils
• National Association for Voluntary and Community Action
• National Institute of Adult Continuing Education