Khulisa

About Khulisa
Khulisa’s wellbeing programmes were first delivered in London in 2007 and were originally designed for prisoners with long histories of reoffending and violent offences. In 2011, we began to work with younger cohorts, specifically children in schools who were
demonstrating challenging or disruptive behaviour. Today, all of our work happens in schools in London and Manchester which serve the most deprived communities in the country. We provide intensive wellbeing support to the country’s most vulnerable children.

Who we support
Khulisa supports children and young people (aged 11-18) for whom other interventions have often failed. They are at high risk of permanent exclusion, being exploited or drawn into criminality or violence. Many have experienced early trauma; poverty, abuse, neglect,
violence, family breakdown, the emotional, physical and financial consequences of which are devastating. All of the young people we support are recognised as vulnerable by their school, nearly 50% are eligible for Pupil Premium, a third have involvement with Social
Services and a quarter have been excluded at least once.

Our Intervention
Our award-winning wellbeing programme is called “Face It”, it is delivered to groups of 10-12 young people in schools over a 6 week period. This intervention has been continually refined and improved since it was first delivered in 2007 in a London prison. The key things
which make it so effective, are:

• Our facilitators are highly qualified drama therapists (unique to the sector). We use music, singing and role play to help young people recognise and express their feelings in a non verbal way, this is proven to be particularly useful for children lacking emotional literacy.
• We deliver the programme in groups, which allows us to explore peer-peer dynamics such as the role of peer-pressure, peer to peer violence including toxic relationships, gangs and bullying cultures. The therapists also use techniques like talking pieces and sociograms to help them practise their communication skills in a safe space.
• We also provide time for 1-1 debriefs and reflections with the therapists, allowing each young person to embed their learning and explore their personal issues on a deeper level.
• It is aligned to the national secondary curriculum. Teaching pupils about physical health and mental wellbeing became a statutory requirement in September 2020. Relationships and sex education (RHSE) is defined as by the Department for Education as “lifelong learning about physical, moral and emotional development” which is very well aligned to the content of Khulisa’s programme.