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The government makes no bones that educational achievement of children in care remains far too low. Its 2003 target of 75 per cent of young people leaving care with at least one qualification proved to be nearly twice as high as reality.

However, the trouble with such attainment targets is that they fail to take into account factors that might affect exam-based performance: confidence and self-esteem, for example, both of which can be influenced outside a classroom. And that's where staff in Calderdale, West Yorkshire started to look.

"We know we were very focused on education and needed to look outside of that for life chances," says Sue Steven, service manager for the looked-after children's education (Lace) service.

The Friday Club was launched as a result of a social work post being created in September 2000 and a desire to promote positive involvement in leisure activities. It provides young people with a chance to take part in evening activities, including swimming and theatre trips.

Robert Glover, senior practitioner social worker, says: "It's what young people want. We're saying to them, 'Why don't you come out on Friday night because we're rock climbing or trampolining. The strength of it is that young people come and see that there are lots of others in care who are similar to them."

Glover's view is echoed by foster carers Robert and Janet Taylor. "It stops them being stuck in and thinking there's only them in that situation, and it's a chance to make new friends outside school," says Robert Taylor.

Janet Taylor agrees: "It's really helped our youngest boy come out of himself. He took part in a Stars in their Eyes show. Most of the young people sang in twos and threes but he was the only one who sang solo. If you had not known him six months earlier you wouldn't have seen the difference it made - and it was the Friday Club that did that."

The club also serves as a venue for sibling contact. "It's not one-to-one and it's a lot less pressurised," says child care assistant Damian Reid. "It also encourages positive relationships between peers and adults. A good knock-on effect for me is that they don't see me as the social worker-type person but as part of leisure." Indeed, Reid used to work in leisure services, but so enjoyed being with looked-after children at the Friday Club that it inspired him to move into social care.

The club has provided paid work for young people too. Glover says: "Some of the older ones will help out - put equipment out, lead some activities. The younger kids think the older kids are cool."


Older children, such as Martin Daley,* a regular Friday Club worker, appreciate the value. He says: "Some kids live in the middle of nowhere so this is their one chance to get out each week. I get a lot of job satisfaction."

Leisure development officer Pete Richardson says: "It works because it's disciplined, there's a good mix of girls and boys aged eight to 14, and it's a level playing field for them all. There's a good atmosphere."

And he's right. On the evening we attended the Friday Club - trampolining and football, by the way - the young people had a ball (and not just one to kick around), as some of their comments confirmed: "I like it because we do fun things" (an 11 year old); "I love the trips" (eight); "If I didn't come here, I'd just be sitting down watching telly" (nine); "It's great doing different things and meeting my mates" (11); "The staff are all right" (13).

Glover is proud of the relationship Lace has with young people. "If they've got things to do and have friends they feel better about themselves - which means they are more likely to be in school doing ok."

Although the effective approach of Lace has few frills, it has for the young people concerned been one full of thrills.

* Not his real name

Lessons learned. 

• The best advert for looked-after children is the children themselves. Senior practitioner social worker Robert Glover says: "As an adult it's very easy to say to young people, 'Despite your problems if you work hard at school things will get better when you're older'. But when they see some of our older young people being paid by us, that's more powerful than a thousand words." 
• Be bothered about looked-after children. "If they were an hour late to school they know that we'd know about it - and although we wouldn't make too big a deal about it, we'd have some banter around that which helps them think, 'Well, all right, someone's actually taking notice of me'," says Glover.