Special Projects Page for:-
Skills for Life (Tacade)

District Officer is P.D.G. Lion John Cooke
you can e-mail him here.

A Lions/Tacade Partnership for Drug Awareness and
Life Skills Resources in Pre-School Groups (3~5yr old),
Primary and Secondary Schools.

	The partnership between Lions MD 105 (UK & Ireland) and Tacade has operated successfully for almost 18 years. Lions recognised that Tacade was the key partner to help reach children and young people aged 3 ~18 in all the schools in the British Isles and Ireland, Over 70% of Primary and approximately 85% of Secondary schools in the British Isles and Ireland now use Lions/Tacade materials, with positive outcomes for the young people, their parents and their communities. The Lions-Tacade programmes aim to develop their personal, social and citizenship skills; to empower children and young people to have control over what they choose to do; to increase their knowledge; to promote their self-esteem and self-confidence; to help them value themselves as worthy citizens contributing positively to their community; to raise awareness of their own feelings, attitudes and abilities and to prevent harm to themselves and others. LIFE SKILLS PROGRAMMES FOR 3 ~18 YEAR OLDS
	What is Tacade? Tacade is a leading national UK non-government organisation working to promote young people's health, personal and social education. It publishes educational programmes and offers training. It also provides a consultancy service and manages a range of innovative projects in this important field.
	Life Skills Education for Pre-School Child (3 ~ 5yr old) 2004 has seen the publication of the very latest 'Life Skills' Resource "Little Steps" It provides a range of ideas to enable practitioners to meet the needs of 3 ~ 5yr olds in both statutory and non-statutory early years settings.
	Life Skills Education for Primary Schools 'Skills for the Primary School Child: Foundation Programme' (re-written 2001 as 'I am, I know, I can') was introduced in 1991 to address the personal and social needs of 4~11 year olds. In response to the huge success and acceptance of the need for skills based education 'Skills for the Primary School Child, part 2: Current Issues in Personal and Social Education' was produced in 1993. A specific programme on the topic of drugs, again written in response to identified needs and the impetus of the Department for Education's circular 4/95, Drug Education in Schools, 'Skills for the Primary School Child - Part 3: The World of Drugs', was launched in November 1995. In 1997, with the support of the British Aerosol Manufacturers' Association and the Department of Health, Tacade published a complementary and similarly structured resource, 'Skills for the Primary School Child - Part 4: Substance and Solution'. This addresses the specific issue of volatile substance abuse (VSA). In 1999, a new resource was launched which was trialled with children, teachers and parents named, *'Skills for the Primary School Child - Part 5: The World of Alcohol'.* Containing material to cover a wide range of issues relating to alcohol use, which is intended to clarify attitudes towards the use of alcohol and to help enhance and develop the skills required to deal with the alcohol situations that they will inevitably face. More recently thanks to the collaboration of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation **'The World of Tobacco' was produced in 'Skills for the Primary School Child - Part 6'**
	Life Skills Education for Secondary Schools Since 1986, Tacade has produced and disseminated life skills education programmes and provided training for secondary schools and other organisations in the UK and Internationally. *'Skills for Adolescence', which was adapted from an original American programme, and was hugely successful in the late 80's. In 1994, a new programme was published as 'Skills for Life - for 11~16 year olds'* this supports a whole school approach to personal and social development. This innovative resource is now used in an increasing number of secondary schools. In early 1997, *'Skills for Life: The World of Drugs for Secondary Schools'* was produced to address the specific issue of drugs. Teachers have found that there is sufficient breadth and depth for the activities to address the needs of 11~18 year olds. In 1999, *'Volatile Issues'* was launched to extend the popular 'Skills for Life' programme. *'Skills for Life: Volatile Substance Abuse for Secondary Schools'* is designed to provide the teacher with material to tackle the area of volatile substance abuse which continues to be a major issue of concern as the rates of experimentation rise among young people between the ages of 11~14.
	Lions Clubs Support In the development and dissemination of all its life skills programmes, Tacade enjoys the partnership of Lions Clubs of Great Britain and Ireland. Lions Clubs raise money to buy programmes for schools in their communities as well as supplementing Tacade's funding from Government, trusts and companies to finance the development costs of the programmes.
	Why Life Skills? Tacade's life skills programmes are based on the belief that schools need to provide young people with knowledge and information, and the personal and social skills needed to make informed choices. Attitudes, values, other influences, self esteem and awareness of alternative behaviours are also important. Skills help to develop psycho-social competence and empower young people to have control over what they do. These skills include: decision making; communicating; building self-esteem; developing relationships; dealing with conflict; problem solving; self awareness and assessment; pressure resistance and critical thinking.
	Parental Involvement Tacade believes that parents and communities need to support schools in their efforts to teach children and young people these essential life skills. That is why all Tacade's life skills programmes include material for parent and community groups.
	For more information on each of the Life Skills resource go to Tacade's web site at: http://www.tacade.com