West Somerset Opportunity Area Programme
The West Somerset Opportunity Area was launched by the government to raise education standards locally, providing every child and young person with the chance to reach their full potential.
West Somerset has been identified as one of the lowest scoring areas in the country in terms of Social Mobility. Futures for Somerset are pleased to be supporting Somerset County Council in the delivery of the Department for Education ‘West Somerset Opportunity Area Programme’ – which aims to help children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in West Somerset to do well at school and improve their life chances and employment opportunities. The programme covers an extremely wide range of activities under four key strands of work: ‘Every Child has a Great Start in Life’, ‘Excellence in the Classroom’, ‘Transition to Adulthood’, ‘Skills for Employment and Business’.
Alongside supporting the Local Authority and DfE with programme and change management functions, Futures are pleased to be working with the Youth Sport Trust and Home-start West Somerset to deliver projects into the West Somerset community.
We also support in numerous activities as part of this programme. Activities will continue until March 2020, and will include further staff training, the issue of home activity packs, and sessions for parents, carers and families. The aim is to leave a lasting legacy of skills and confidence in the importance of physical literacy within the community, which will contribute towards the long term goal of improving community social mobility.
To be kept up-to-date with the regular activities please follow us on Twitter (@FuturesSomerset)
