Joining Teens+

You can apply to join Teens+ by getting directly in contact with us via our website, telephone call or via email. People can also apply via their allocated Social Worker or transitions worker at school.

Once an application is received we will then arrange for the New Support and Community Access Manager to get in touch.

Our Care Inspectorate Certificate requires that Teens+ specifically cater to young people over the age of 16 with the following diagnoses and behviours:

• Autism and or Learning Disability
• Learning difficulties: SpLD’s-ADD, ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia
• Comorbidities
• Neurodiverse
• Communication Difficulties: Complex Communication needs/ Social Communication/
  Emotion Regulation
• Physical & Sensory Impairment

Teens+ provides support to people from 09.00am until 16.30pm – Monday to Thursday and 09.00am – 14.00pm on a Friday.

There are various ways in which the Teens+ service can be paid for, this includes a direct contract with the Local Authority, purchased by the individual themselves via their own budget or self-funded by another source of income. Our dedicated finance team will work with you, your family or representative to set up your payments for the service.

Teens+ get to know the students and their family carers through the application process. Several visits will be made to the school and family to obtain as much information as possible to make a personalised decision about where the young adult is going to be best suited and what their support needs look like to ensure we can get the service tailored to meet the individuals needs.

Once we have the young adults ‘Parent Pack’ information back we will create a transition plan that is individual to the person. This looks at the length of transition needed, who needs to be involved, how this is communicated and reviewed and what factors need to be taken into consideration e.g. health conditions or support needs around learning.

We will then arrange visits to the centre, these can be as frequent as needed and an allocated staff team of 4 to 6 people will be allocated to the young adult. This is so we can work together to get to know the person and how best to deliver their educational support at Teens+.

When the young adult starts at Teens+ they will be allocated to their Education Supervisor who will put in place a generic Individual Learning Plan known as an ILP for the first 3 months and during this time will work on a personalised learning plan that is agreed with the young adult and their circle of support.

We will review and feedback the progress made through each transition and highlight any areas of concerns or achievements through the transition process.

We have some amazingly talented staff who work at Teens+ and all of them have their own likes, dislikes and hobbies. We try our best to match our staff with the students so that they have shared interests and compatible personalities. This encourages a greater professional relationship and the learning experience of the student is driven by the motivation to learn, develop and thrive whilst at Teens+.

Teens+ has an adjoining project called ‘Friends+’. Friends+ is able to offer support outside of the Teens+ hours which includes evenings, weekends and overnight stays away. We have some incredible links with other organisations who are able to offer accommodation for weekends away throughout the year that are tailored to meet the needs and wishes of the young people.

Friends+ facilitates some social clubs where young people are able to come along and socialise with each other, take part in activities and generally have a good time.

Every student at Teens+ has their own Individual Learning Plan that is structured with some core leaning at the centre e.g. Literacy, Numeracy, Communication, Social skills etc and then the specific areas of interest and learning are added into the plan. The plan is then driven by the student and their time to work towards their goals, aims & objectives. The plans can be themed so that the student is keen to participate and is engaged with what it is they are learning.

Examples of activities that students take part in are –

• Art
• Geography
• History
• Current affairs
• The gym
• College support
• Science
• IT
• Communication
• Yoga
• And many more

We have an open-door approach that is completely transparent within Teens+. We value the involvement of our parent carers and are happy to chat at any time.

We have a Teens+ update that is circulated via email from the Head of Service on a monthly basis. This can be more frequent if there is something that is needing to be communicated.

We have daily diaries that the staff complete for each student that go home every day and this is where families can also communicate anything to staff that they feel we need to know.

We can offer meetings in person, via Teams, email or phone at a time that works for each family.

In our Liberton Brae and Ravenscroft Centres Teens+ have a fixed holiday calendar that is provided at the beginning of each year. This details the times when Teens+ will be closed and when we have In-service days booked for our staff to complete their training.

At our new East Lothian Centre, we have 2 weeks off for the festive season and for the rest of the year we are open to offer a service.

We ask that we are advised when a student will not be in accessing the service so we can allocate the staffing appropriately.