This immersive two day programme equips schools and youth organisations to understand the influences around a young person – from home and school to neighbourhoods, peers and online spaces. Participants learn how to apply contextual safeguarding principles and design interventions that truly meet young people where they are. 
 
What’s included 
• Foundations of contextual youth work: Gain a solid grounding in the theories and policies behind contextual safeguarding and youth work practice. 
• Mapping influences: Through community mapping exercises and case studies, participants identify risk and protective factors in the wider environment and learn to engage families, schools and community partners. 
• Scenario based learning: Work through real life scenarios to practise assessment, multiagency working and trauma informed responses. 
• Resource pack & certification: Each participant receives a toolkit of assessment templates, policy checklists and guidance documents, plus a CPD certificate upon completion. 
• Reflective followup: A post programme reflective session helps teams implement learning and evaluate early impact. 
• Optional workshop: An additional 2hour workshop allows deeper exploration of specific contexts (e.g. digital harms, peer groups) or planning for a particular cohort of young people. 
 
Why it matters 
• Local services increasingly recognise that harm often happens in extra familial contexts. Equipping staff to recognise and respond to these influences can prevent crises. 
• Participants leave with practical tools and confidence to contextualise the children and young people they support, rather than seeing them in isolation. 
• The programme builds on the success of Reaching Higher’s Contextual Youth Work conference, praised for its insightful speakers and collaboration by partners such as Birmingham Children’s Trust and London Violence Reduction Unit .