Kibble’s Day Services aim to provide a safe, nurturing and happy environment for young people who attend school at Kibble and who live at home or in local authority care. The smaller of the two units is McKechnie and, with a working capacity of 11 young people, it is the school’s second largest unit. McKechnie is staffed by a Service Manager, three Child & Youth Care Workers and one Classroom Support Worker.
Any time before 9:30am, boys begin to arrive at school, most of them by taxi. Youngsters come from all over Paisley and the surrounding areas of Renfrewshire, Ayrshire, Inverclyde and Glasgow. Before attending assembly and beginning classes, youngsters can get some breakfast, have time to relax, play pool, chat to staff and their friends and generally get settled into their school day. Likewise, at morning and afternoon breaks, the young people are encouraged to take time to relax and discuss the day’s events with staff who will help them find solutions to any problems they have encountered throughout the day.
Lunchtimes are a key part of the day in McKechnie as young people and staff sit down and share a meal together. There is always a home cooked, hot option as well as a healthy salad to choose from - fizzy drinks and a portion of chips every day are not on the menu! After lunch the boys are free to have sole access to the sports hall for a game of five-a-side football or, if they wish, they may remain in the units and play pool or a video game.
The small class sizes and enhanced curriculum on offer at Kibble go a long way towards creating and inclusive, welcoming and motivating learning environment for young people. Added to this for Day Pupils are the supports provided by the Day Service staff. While the list below is by no means exhaustive, it represents some of the ways in which we strive to provide high quality Day Care and Education for the youngsters who attend McKechnie unit:
An average attendance rate of around 90% in McKechnie suggests that young people both enjoy coming to Kibble every day and are committed to engaging in the services on offer.