Teacher drives forward coach conversion to help families

Monday 31 January 2022

A local teacher of nearly two decades is driving forward a new service which delivers support to families and children by coach.

Victoria Pallot has been teaching in Jersey for 17 years, including an eight-year stint at JCG Prep, and nine years at Samares Primary, where she has been Deputy Head Teacher for four of them.

However, soon be departing her teaching role, as she takes a new path in the world of supporting children.

Ms Pallot has written a new book giving young people an accessible “helping hand” through the pressures of growing up, which hopes will help fund her new independent child and community programme, 'The Boatman', alongside donations.

The project aims to get emotional, social, academic and mental well-being support to children and families when they need it.

"Often we see asking for support and help as [something we do] when we fail, when we're unable to cope - and I think it should be the opposite, I think we should see asking for help and support as a positive thing and we need to do it almost before something happens," she said.

She noted that, while many services in Jersey are "brilliant", many of them "are designed after the problem has occurred, and my approach is about being proactive and trying to change how people see seeking support."

To reinforce this message to be "proactive", Ms Pallot has bought a coach for the service, which she is having renovated so the service can reach as many members of the island community as possible.

Pictured: Ms Pallot is currently in the process of renovating a coach she is looking to take around the island with a team to provide emotional, social, academic and mental well-being support.

She explained she envisioned the service as working through bookings or arranging with schools through their website, as well potentially going to different events throughout the island.

She's also looking to bring the service to nursery-age too with the assistance of Charlie Farley's nursery, with the mantra of getting parents prepared for different states of life - like nursery and reception - before their children reach it, so they are ready.

Ms Pallot is currently in discussions with potential sponsors for the project, and is looking for others who want to donate or work with her on it too.

Also funding it will be the profits from her new book, 'The Pocket-Sized Not-So Fluffy Guide to Life'.

The book is described by Ms Pallot as "quick read" for children between 8 and 17, which explains that "it's okay sometimes not to feel happy, it's okay sometimes to have a bad day, to understand why that might be and what we can do to support through that."

Now available on Amazon and in Waterstones, the book had been in the making for two years, starting when she was on maternity leave with her third child

"I wanted to use a lot of my knowledge and skills and all of the work that I've done... and also my experiences as a parent to write something that I felt could help support children in understanding the issues that sometimes we come across in life," she explained to Express.

"...Life isn't always filled with rainbows, unicorns and fluffy clouds, but life can also be what you want it to be.

"All you need is some understanding, lots of patience and a bucketload of resilience, and it's about teaching children that if you can understand why things are happening, then they may not seem as daunting, if you can understand why people may act or say certain things, it gives you a little bit more of an opportunity to be prepared, or prepare how you react to something."

The book has also got the teenage seal of approval too, with her now-13-year-old daughter having helped to proof-read it as Ms Pallot refined it during lockdown, getting up every morning at 05:00.

Pictured: Ms Pallot said she wrote her 'pocket sized' book to help teenagers know they are not alone and understand some of the pressures that come with life and growing up.

When asked about something she wished more parents knew about, she emphasised the need to switch off the iPad, and spend "quality time" together.

"We often feel in life when something is going wrong, that this is unique to us and no one else has experienced this, but really if you take the time to talk to your parents, and parents take the time to listen to their children, you have a lot more in common than you think," she summed up.

Anyone who wants to know more about or get involved in Ms Pallot's new venture can email her on: victoriapallot@yahoo.co.uk