Two years ago, Antonia had a secret she thought was too terrible to tell, and started to believe suicide was the only way out. Like many teenagers, the 14-year-old Italian was suffering from the loss and devastation that comes with a broken relationship. But unlike her peers, Antonia felt isolated and alone in her grief as she had been in a clandestine gay relationship with a teenage family friend.
Without the help of a groundbreaking school counselling project in Greenwich, south-east London, she may never have got through that rite of passage. Staff at Teen Talk were able to refer her to a lesbian and gay help group, and give her the strength and confidence to come out to her family and come to terms with her sexuality.
She is one of dozens of teenagers benefiting from the pilot health centre, based in three former classrooms of Kidbrooke secondary school, set in the heart of a deprived part of the city. Operating as a drop-in centre where pupils can go and talk about their problems, Teen Talk has made health and other services accessible to pupils and encouraged take-up by creating an informal parent and teacher-free zone. The service is now used by nearly 650 pupils a year.
Every lunchtime, pupils aged 11 to 16 can get confidential advice from youth workers, school nurses and sexual health specialists, on a broad range of issues from contraception and relationship problems, to exam worries and bullying, to eating disorders.
In just three years the pioneering project has led to a dramatic reduction in the teenage birth rate at the school, which has fallen from 15 to zero in 2005. And, for the first time, there is a support network for vulnerable young people who need a safe place to talk. The project's remarkable suc cess follows three years of hard work by Greenwich council, which has worked with Greenwich teaching primary care trust to tackle high teenage conception rates and health inequalities among young people in the borough.
Jan Hyde, health and social care development officer for extended schools at Greenwich, took the lead in setting up the scheme. "We had high teenage conception rates and high rates of poor nutrition, asthma, smoking and drug misuse: There was also a growing awareness of how these social factors that were affecting children's performance at school."
The agencies working with young people in the borough felt the best way to tackle these problems was by working together. Consultation with the pupils at the school identified what they wanted was a dedicated and accessible service that was also confidential. The pupils chose the name of the service and decor of the centre.
Staff at the centre link into other services, such as child and adolescent mental health, and behaviour education and support teams - and can make referrals if necessary.
"Through Teen Talk, pupils get access to services they wouldn't necessarily access. We can make referrals and set up appointments. By bringing agencies into the school environment, it helps to demystify the services," says Sew Lan Ooi, school nurse and coordinator of Teen Talk. The centre does not just offer one-to-one counselling. Group discussions with pupils are held that mirror the issues being explored in personal, social and health education (PSHE).
"If teachers are covering puberty [in class], we will hold a group discussion exploring those issues that lunchtime. We often find that pupils lead these discussions because they are full of questions after their PHSE lesson," says Ooi.
For pupils who would rather discuss their concerns with somebody closer to their own age, peer listeners are on hand. These are pupils that have been specially trained to provide support and guidance to young people. There is also a computer that runs health-focused CD-roms and leaflets that young people can pick up.
The pilot has been so successful it is now being rolled out across the borough. Two more schools are due to open their own Teen Talks in March. Talks are being held with another six schools about setting up similar projects.
"The health centre is very well-supported," says Hyde. "Everyone is very interested in the scheme. The benefits are huge."
Service delivery, children's services award
Sponsor: NSPCC
Winner: Teen Talk
For its drop-in centre offering one-to-one counselling, peer group discussions and confidential referrals for young people
Runners-up:
Awaken Project For setting up a scheme aimed at tackling the sexual exploitation of young people in the Blackpool area
Carmarthenshire Children's Services For its development of family centres and its support of families in crisis to help them provide better care for their children
