A Curious Journey

With worryingly high levels of domestic abuse across Doncaster, DCS Trust and partners contacted Collingwood to help break the inter-generational cycle of behaviours which blight some communities. Educating young people on the features of healthy and unhealthy relationships is a key part of breaking this culture.

Working with a steering group of local primary teachers and after consulting extensively with young people, Collingwood designed a sustainable programme of activity across participating schools. Using the story of Alice in Wonderland, A Curious Journey was a magical journey for students as fantastical characters taught them the features of healthy relationships, and what to do if they found themselves in unhealthy ones. By the end of an exciting and creative day, students performed their own versions of the play to parents, widening the reach into the community.

A major plank of the programme was a teacher training element with permanent online resources teachers can use to implement the project annually. Understanding of healthy relationships increased from 58% to 95% amongst young people and 100% of teachers would recommend the project to other schools.