Charity Partners
At Barlby, we are committed to supporting social & emotional well being. We have established excellent working partnerships with three wonderful charities.
What we do
AT The Bus is a charity that provides transformational, school-based art as therapy to children and young people aged 5-16 who have a range of complex social and emotional needs and are struggling with their mental health.
Our work builds self-esteem, confidence and independence through creativity, supporting improved educational, behavioural and relationship outcomes.
How we do this
- Using The Beattie Method, a relationship-based group intervention using art as therapy, to support education and wellbeing.
- Providing a mobile service to reach as many children and young people as possible.
- Working on school sites to enable all children and young people to access support.
- Providing effective early intervention, using research and evidence to ensure value and impact.
- Providing training for staff who work with children and young people to improve skill levels and increase support in schools and other settings.​
Partner Schools
Founded in 2018 by Dr Juli Beattie OBE, based on over 40 years' experience working in children’s mental health, AT The Bus has grown to now include a team of 20 specialist facilitators supporting nearly 800 children each year in 12 primary and secondary schools in Oxfordshire and London.
AT The Bus work in Barlby Primary School every Wednesday and Thursday, supporting groups of children across the school.
We are now in our sixth year (third 2-year cycle) of working with AllChild. AllChild's vision is to support children in navigating social, emotional and academic challenges, supporting them to face life more positively.
AllChild work with a cohort of 40 children (identified when between Yr 1 and Yr 5) on a 2-year cycle of support. The pupil identification process is based on attainment levels, attendance, and social emotional needs.
The school has a full-time link worker (Ellie Faulkner) who works directly with the children developing academic and social skills. The charity is also able to link in with a number of other external services in including SALT, academic tutors, holiday clubs etc . . .
What we do
One in three disadvantaged children across the UK has fewer than ten books of their own at home*, and one in ten has none.
The Children’s Book Project seeks to tackle book poverty and to give every child the opportunity to own their own book. We believe in empowering children to choose a book they are motivated to read and in the power of reading communities. We put on book gifting events that are inclusive, joyful and have a tangible impact on every family that participates.
Poverty is by no means the only reason for a lack of books in many homes. Lack of time, negative experiences as a child or lack of confidence about their own reading skills or book choices can all undermine a family’s propensity to own books.
The Power of a Book
Book ownership has been directly linked with improved mental health amongst children and a greater propensity to read for pleasure, whilst reading fluency itself has a significant impact on children’s successful progression through education. By age eleven, there is a 12-month language development gap between children from book rich homes books and those with fewer than ten books. Our aim is to tackle the attainment gap arising from low book ownership. We want every child to feel part of their reading community and to identify with books that they have enjoyed.