Family Pathway

We are looking for a Research Volunteer to join the growing Family Pathway CIC team.

Family Pathway works at the intersection of research, education and lived experience, supporting children, young people, families and professionals to understand and remove barriers to participation.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone interested in research, inclusion, psychology, education or neurodiversity to gain experience within a community-based organisation.

The role will involve supporting our research and evaluation activity, including:
• literature reviews and evidence gathering
• analysis of feedback and evaluation data
• supporting research summaries and reports
• contributing to the development of resources and publications

You might be a student, recent graduate, early career researcher, or someone with a passion for improving outcomes for children and young people.

We particularly welcome applications from people who bring curiosity, commitment and an interest in ensuring that the voices of children, young people and families inform research and practice.

If you are interested in joining our research journey, we would love to hear from you.

A brilliant day with our MasteringMe Summer Programme, delivered in collaboration with Grassroots Youth Centre in Cardiff. 💛

Today we cooked together, explored positive relationships, and created opportunities for young people to build independence, agency and voice.

We were also joined by Josh, one of our MasteringMe Champions, who came back to spend time with our new cohort and share his own experiences of moving into work.

Josh talked openly about how MasteringMe helped prepare him for work, but also how important the support around his work placement had been — learning what employers expect, developing confidence in the workplace, building a positive relationship with his employer and understanding what it actually means to be part of a working environment.

And the young people were interested! Lots of questions, lots of discussion and some real enthusiasm about the possibility of their own work placements and employment opportunities.
This is such an important part of MasteringMe.
Young people hearing from another young person who has made that journey. Seeing what progression can look like. Asking the questions that matter to them. And beginning to imagine themselves taking that next step.

A massive shout-out to Josh for coming back, sharing his experience and helping us shape MasteringMe for the next cohort. 🌟

Voice. Agency. Independence. Relationships. Real experiences of work.
That’s what we’re building.

International Youth Day is a chance to celebrate not only what young people achieve, but who they are becoming.

Through MasteringMe, we want young people to have space to understand themselves, recognise their strengths and develop the confidence to imagine a future that feels possible for them.

That means building practical work skills, but it also means much more: developing identity, independence, self-advocacy and connection.
Learning how to communicate what you need.

Understanding how you work best. Managing your wellbeing and self-care. Trying new things, contributing alongside others and beginning to see yourself as someone who has something valuable to bring to a workplace and community.

Our summer cohort, delivered with CYS Wellbeing Grassroots Youth Centre in , is creating opportunities for young people to learn through real experiences — building confidence, relationships and readiness for the world of work.

Because preparing for employment shouldn't just be about becoming job ready. It should be about helping young people develop the voice, self-belief and agency to shape the life they want.

This International Youth Day, we're celebrating independence, voice, self-care and possibility — and the young people discovering what their next chapter could look like. ❤️

It was a pleasure to speak at the National MA (Wales) Programme and to be part of a really important discussion about education in Wales.

It was especially encouraging to hear Anna Brychan, Minister for Education and Welsh Language, reflect on her commitment to developing the education workforce through this innovative pathway for teachers in Wales.

I spoke about my own learning around inclusion and exclusion, and the importance of being honest about how educational systems can still leave some learners on the margins. Inclusion is not just about access or placement — it is about belonging, participation, voice and the everyday practices that shape whether children and young people feel seen, supported and able to thrive.

I was grateful for the opportunity to contribute to such an important conversation and to reflect on how we continue building a more inclusive education system in Wales.

Isolation is not inclusion.

When a child spends more than half a school year separated from the classroom, we have to stop calling it behaviour management and start asking harder questions about belonging, safety and need.

Schools absolutely need boundaries. Staff need support. Classrooms need calm.

But containment without connection does not teach regulation.

It teaches children that they are the problem.

A needs-led system asks:
What is this behaviour communicating?
What support has been tried?
What relational repair is happening?
How do we get this learner back into learning, not further away from it?

Because the goal should never be compliance at the cost of a child’s dignity.

Pupil put in isolation booth for more than half a school year, BBC learns The pupil's experience in a Yorkshire school highlights concerns about zero-tolerance behaviour policies.

Celebrating our MasteringME programme and the brilliant achievements of our young people.

This cohort has shown real commitment, confidence and growth as they continue preparing for work, building independence, developing communication skills, strengthening teamwork, and learning what positive workplace behaviours look like in real settings.

MasteringME is about so much more than employability. It is about helping young people recognise their strengths, feel valued, take up space, and see themselves as capable of moving forward into volunteering, training, employment and adult life.

We are so proud of every learner who completed the programme and their voluntary work placements. Their achievements deserve to be seen and celebrated.

A huge thank you to everyone who has supported this journey and helped create meaningful opportunities for our young people.
This is what inclusion, opportunity and preparation for adulthood should look like.


https://youtu.be/Fz-vz6fvC-Q?is=yMaZR_oqC48fk0FA

The latest Welsh Government data tells a difficult story.

By Year 6, children eligible for free school meals in Wales are still significantly behind their peers:
📘 Welsh Reading: 31 months
🧮 Numeracy Reasoning: 28 months
📖 English Reading: 26 months
➗ Numeracy Procedural: 23 months

This is not a small gap. It is a warning sign.
Children growing up in poverty continue to be underserved and negatively impacted.

But we also need to ask a harder question:
What does this look like for learners with Additional Learning Needs?

At the moment, that data is not visible enough. It remains hidden.

And when the data is hidden, so are the children.
If Wales is serious about equity, inclusion and learner rights, we need to be brave enough to show where learners are being left behind — and act on it.